Plant Shopping Made Easy

1
Plant Shopping Made Easy

• How to Find Sources for Plants, Seeds and Bulbs.

2
Quick Overview of Class

• Mini tour of library.
• Lecture, ending with a survey of favorite
  catalogs.
• Hands-on searching with catalogs and computers.

3
Mini Tour of Library

• Funded by Miller Charitable Foundation, Northwest
  Horticultural Society, private donations and the
  state.
• We serve the public, university and community
  college students and professionals.
• Two rooms
• upstairs has magazines, lending and reference
  collection.
• Downstairs has non-lending general books, nursery
  catalogs and clippings file.

4
Types of Sources for Plants, Seeds and Bulbs

• Local general stores and super stores.
• Local garden centers.
• Mail order nurseries and seed houses.
• Wholesale growers may tell you what retail
  sources they sell to.
• Retail what most of our tools focus on.
• Seed exchanges.
• As a members benefit for many national gardening
  and plant societies.

5
Searching Strategies
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First Search for the Plant Directly

• Use the scientific name.
• Start with the tools most accessible.
• The phone call the local retail nurseries.
• The internet use one of the search engines
  listed on your handout.
• http//catalogs.google.com
• http//www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantfinder.a
  sp

7
Next Stop, the Miller Library
8
Andersens Plant Information Online

• http//plantinfo.umn.edu/default.asp.
• 1300 North American nurseries in database.
• Search by genus, species, variety, or common
  name.
• Supports truncation (gal will return both
  Galium and Galanthus).
• Find citations to literature mentioning your
  plant.
• Look up nurseries by specialty or region.

9
Books Available at the Library

• Some are more out-of-date than others, but may
  still be helpful.
• Books specialize in a type of plant, like
  vegetables, or a region, like the Pacific
  Northwest.

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Next Cast a Wider Net Search Indirectly

• Seek out nurseries that specialize in the type of
  plant youre interested in.
• Specialty nursery association (of Washington).
• Washington state university extensions specialty
  nursery database http//gardening.wsu.edu/nursery/
  scripts/webMain.asp.
• Plant information Onlines nursery information
  search.
• Washington native plant societys native plant
  and seed sources www.wnps.org/nurserylist.html.

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At the Miller Library

• Over 1,000 mail-order nursery catalogs indexed by
  name of nursery, type of plants and location.
  (Full index will be available on our website
  soon).
• Vals top twelve (see handout.).
• A few additional northwest nurseries.
• Examples of specialties (natives, bulbs, roses,
  alpines, edible, ferns).
• Examples of unique, weird and beautiful.
• Foreign (US import regulations now strictly
  enforced).

12
Thank You.

• We will now spend the remaining time using the
  Internet, books and catalogs to find sources for
  plants.