On the Seed Scene

Dr. Charles Mayo (1865-1939), organizer of Rochester’s famed Mayor Clinic that his father had founded, was also a keen gardener. His prayer as such seems appropriate at this time:

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God grant that I may be More than a nonentity A little bad, a little good, Makes but mediocrity. In daily problems, daily deeds, Solutions, actions, roses, weeds, Give me guidance, give me strength To grow my garden with thy seeds.

Further west from Rochester, much, much further west is Broomfield, Colorado whence comes the family-owned seed company of Botanical Interests (www.botanicalinterests.com). Frankly, these are not packages easy to find in Canada – Whole Foods seem to be carrying them and one can only hope more will follow. The reason is, as Roger B. Swain, Host of PBS’s “Victory Garden” and Science Editor of Horticulture magazine wrote: “Top honors go to the seed packets of Botanical Interests.” Generously filled packets, top quality seed and a positively encyclopedic plethora of information on their offerings of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Burpee Seeds introduced Iceberg Lettuce in 1894, Golden Bantam Corn in 1902, Big Boy Tomato in 1949 and the white Marigold French Vanilla in 1993, to name but a few of this Warminister, Pennsylvannia-based company which dates back to 1876. Unfortunately for far too long Burpee own seeds were only available south o’ the border. Many of their outstanding introductions made it into Canadian seed catalogues – who can forget Burpee’s Burpless Cucumber? But only recently have their seed packages made it directly into retail outlets here in the Great White North. Annuals, perennials, sunflowers, herbs, vegetables, organics and all tested for optimum performance under Canadian growing conditions. McKenzie Seeds are a great Canadian home gardening tradition. Around since 1896, there can be few garden centres, hardware stores, even big box stores without a display. Or two, five perhaps even ten or more since McKenzie features a staggering choice. Sure you’ll find vegetables flowers and herbs galore. But how about a tomato collection of everybody’s favourite fruit? And if growing tomatoes, a basil collection is the perfect accompaniment. Five varieties of each to which you add the same number of peppers. Then there’s the new kid’s collection. Featured are Pea Knight, Pumpkin Spookie, Pumpkin Munchkin, Bean Rattlesnake, Carrot Little Finger and Lettuce Tom Thumb to keep the young ‘uns interested season-long. Also new are Heirloom Vegetables, which include the Armenian Cucumber, German Giant Radish, Red Oakleaf Lettuce, Contender Bush bean and Bonny Best Tomato. Under the McKenzie label on other displays you will discover Steppable Plants, Wildflowers, Asian Vegetables, Gusto Italia (guess from where!) and the internationally acknowledged Thompson & Morgan seeds out of England. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s heroine didn’t have a handy garden centre. You can understand now why, as we are told in Anne of Ingleside (1936) that she "sat up o' nights to pore over seed catalogues in January and February."