Yes, there are online catalogs, but there’s something special about sitting down in front of the fireplace in a cozy chair and dreaming about your future garden with a pile of seed catalogs.

It is work, but it’s worth it. Seed catalogs typically have varieties that you can’t find in garden centers or on seed racks. I typically purchase my vegetable garden seeds from catalogs.

At this time of year, gardening might be the farthest thing from your mind! But in mailboxes (and inboxes) across the region, the avalanche of seed catalogs is well underway. For a gardener ...