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FeaturesFebruary 5, 2003

By now, you may have a growing pile of advertisements for plants. You might call them "seed catalogs" or "nursery catalogs," but there's no getting around it -- they are ads. Their goal is to induce you to make a purchase. How lucky we are to be offered such a diversity of plants at such convenience. ...

By Lee Reich, The Associated Press

By now, you may have a growing pile of advertisements for plants. You might call them "seed catalogs" or "nursery catalogs," but there's no getting around it -- they are ads. Their goal is to induce you to make a purchase.

How lucky we are to be offered such a diversity of plants at such convenience. But do be careful, in winter, of succumbing to planting a "very hardy, drought resistant and rapid growing tree" (cottonless cottonwood), an annual whose fruits "rival blueberries for making superb pies and preserves" (garden huckleberry), or sowing seeds that will offer a "mass of colors from summer through frost" (Thumbelina zinnias). These are some plants, in spite of the claims, that might not be worth growing.

Try to read between the lines of the copywriters. Fast-growing trees such as cottonwood, boxelder, silver maple, and willow also are either short-lived or have weak branches that drop during windstorms. These plants provide "shade in a hurry," but not for long.

Certain adjectives send up caution flags. Avoid flavors described as "...like" or based on appearance. The previously mentioned garden huckleberry is blueberrylike in appearance (small, round, and blue), but not at all in flavor (it tastes bad).

Kieffer pear and Pixwell gooseberry are touted as being good for jam or jelly. But these and many other fruits promoted for jam have bland or bad flavors when eaten fresh.

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Resist the hype

Those glossy photos of flowers in garden catalogs are enticing this time of year. Remind yourself that these photos show the flowers up close or bunched together in a vase -- fine if that is the only way you plan to enjoy them.

Within every catalog is a mix of plants that are tried-and-true, plants that are new-and-exciting, and plants that are novelties. Unfortunately, the new-and-exciting category usually receives the most fanfare. A good tack is to order mostly tried-and-true plants, a few new-and-exciting plants and just a couple of novelty plants, for fun.

Before finally sending off orders for plants, consider consulting unbiased descriptions of plants in gardening encyclopedias and books. This is especially important with woody plants, because of their permanence in the landscape.

Reliable information also can be found in some of the more staid catalogs. But they are nowhere near as much fun as those glitzy catalogs whose pages almost drip with luscious fruits and the smells of colorful flowers.

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