Seed Catalogs (Part II): Weapons of Mass Distraction

 

In part one of “Seed Catalogs: Weapons of Mass Distraction,” I waxed poetically on the pleasures of the January seed catalog mailings.  In this second part, I get down to some of the heavy lifting of comparing the top seed catalogs.

My plan is to rate the catalogs using three primary criteria:

• Variety – the number of vegetable varieties offered in the catalog & presence of unusual varieties one can’t get elsewhere. (Veggies only -- Fruit and flowers will not be considered in these reviews)
• Product Information – plant description, planting and care information, presence of photos that help customers select varieties from within the catalog.  I will also address how easy it is to locate and compare varieties within the catalog.
• Entertainment value – interesting catalog copy, beautiful photos that go beyond illustration, catalog print quality etc.

 In this posting, I will focus on varieties.   I will cover the other criteria in subsequent postings and then declare an overall winner in my final posting on the subject.

For those interested in methodology, I have added a section to the bottom of this posting.

Just the Facts Ma’am – Types of Vegetables Offered

Below is a table that shows the number of varieties offered in each of the 5 major seed catalogs that I’m reviewing.  A few things leap out of the data:

• The major catalogs offer a very broad range of products and almost every catalog has at least one variety to sell in each vegetable type. 
• In terms of sheer numbers, Baker Creek tops the list with close to 900 varieties.  Surprisingly, the company doesn’t list a single variety of chard.  (They do sell several varieties online, but nothing listed in the print catalog.) I find this a surprising omission given that the company lists over 90 varieties of melon in the catalog.
• While none of these companies are specialty providers, there are differences in emphasis.  If you want to buy lettuces and green’s, you’ll find the widest selection at Johnny’s, Territorial Seed lists 30 varieties of Garlic, and Baker Creek will sell you 17 varieties of cow pea, 47 different types of eggplant, and over 200 varieties of tomatoes.

BC-Baker Creek, TS-Territorial seed, B-Burpee, SOC-Seeds of Change, J-Johnny's Selected

	Varieties by Veg. Type
	BC	TS	B	SOC	J
Artichoke	3	3	1	1	2
Aparagus	2	5	2	4	3
Bean (Bush/Pole)	50	37	34	24	22
Beets	14	9	7	8	10
Broccoli	5	9	4	5	10
Broccoli Raab	0	2	1	1	2
Brussels Sprouts	2	3	1	2	2
Cabage	12	8	3	5	12
Chinese Cabbage/Bok Choi	7	7	3	3	8
Carrots	17	13	13	8	18
Cardoon	2	1	0	0	1
Cauliflower	5	6	3	3	9
Cowpea	17	1	1	0	2
Celery	4	3	1	3	3
Collards	2	2	1	1	3
Corn Salad/Mache	2	1	1	0	2
Corn	13	25	17	13	26
Cucumber	34	26	21	11	21
Eggplant	47	6	6	6	18
Fennel	1	1	0	4	5
Garlic	0	30	4	12	4
Horseradish	0	1	1	0	1
Kale	4	9	2	5	7
Kohlrabi	2	3	2	1	5
Lettuces & Greens	74	71	19	75	101
Melons	90	22	25	25	38
Okra	15	2	3	5	1
Onions, Leeks etc.	17	43	8	25	40
Parsnips	3	3	1	1	3
Peas/Snap Peas	12	12	12	7	12
Peppers (Hot & Sweet)	61	35	42	26	45
Potatoe/Sweet Potato	0	13	15	15	12
Radish	27	8	12	10	15
Spinch	7	9	9	5	8
Peanut	0	0	1	0	0
Rhubarb	2	3	2	1	1
Rutabaga	4	1	1	2	2
Salsify/Sorzonera	2	0	0	0	2
Swiss Chard	0	5	4	6	7
Summer Squash	25	20	21	8	24
Turnip	9	2	1	3	3
Winter Squash/Pumpkin	74	35	22	18	57
Tomatoes	206	77	53	39	62
Grand Total	873	572	380	391	629

 Uniqueness of Varieties Offered

The good news here for gardeners, is that the seed catalog companies offer us a really wide range of varieties to choose from.  And the level of duplication between the catalog companies is less than I would have expected.

Tomatoes are most popular vegetable with backyard gardeners.  Not surprisingly, there are 437 entries for tomatoes in the catalogs evaluated in this review.  Of those 437, only 89 represent duplicate product offerings --  just 20%.

A list of the tomato varieties offered by each catalog companies is shown below with duplicates highlighted in yellow.

Please note: The conclusions and methodology sections follow this very long table.

 

Variety	Catalog
Al-Kuffa	Baker Creek
Amana Orange	Baker Creek
Amana Orange	Seeds of Change
Amerikanskiy Sladkiy	Baker Creek
Amish Paste	Baker Creek
Amish Paste	Seeds of Change
Anna Russian	Baker Creek
Annas Noire	Territorial Seed
Annelise	Seeds of Change
Apero	Johnny's Select
Applegate	Territorial Seed
Arbason	Johnny's Select
Arkansas Traveler	Baker Creek
Arkansas Traveler	Seeds of Change
Aunt Ruby's German Cherry	Baker Creek
Aunt Ruby's German Green	Baker Creek
Azoychka	Baker Creek
Bambino	Territorial Seed
Barnes Mountain Pink	Baker Creek
Barnes Mountiain Yellow	Baker Creek
Beaufort	Johnny's Select
Beauty King	Baker Creek
Beaverlodge Plum	Territorial Seed
Beaverlodge Slicer	Territorial Seed
Beduin	Baker Creek
Beefstake	Baker Creek
Beefstake/Chancha	Seeds of Change
Belize Pink Heart	Baker Creek
Bellstar	Johnny's Select
Better Boy	Burpee
Beuty Queen	Baker Creek
BHN-189	Johnny's Select
BHN-444	Johnny's Select
BHN-624	Johnny's Select
BHN-826	Johnny's Select
Big Beef	Burpee
Big Beef	Johnny's Select
Big Beef	Territorial Seed
Big Boy	Burpee
Big Mama Hybrid	Burpee
Big Month	Baker Creek
Big Pink	Burpee
Big Rainbow	Baker Creek
Big Rainbow	Burpee
Big White Pink Stripes	Baker Creek
Big Yellow Zebra	Baker Creek
Bitonto	Territorial Seed
Black	Territorial Seed
Black Cherry	Baker Creek
Black Cherry	Johnny's Select
Black from Tula	Baker Creek
Black Giant	Baker Creek
Black Krim	Baker Creek
Black Krim Heirloom	Burpee
Black Oxheart	Baker Creek
Black Pearl Hybrid	Burpee
Black Plum	Seeds of Change
Black Prince	Baker Creek
Black Prince	Johnny's Select
Black Prince	Territorial Seed
Blosser Pink Beefstake	Baker Creek
Br. Wyche's Yellow	Baker Creek
Brandy Boy Hybrid	Burpee
Brandywine	Baker Creek
Brandywine	Johnny's Select
Brandywine	Seeds of Change
Brandywine	Territorial Seed
Brandywine Heirloom	Burpee
Brave General	Baker Creek
Bread & Salt	Baker Creek
Break O'Day	Baker Creek
Buckbee's New Fifty Day	Baker Creek
Burbank	Seeds of Change
Burbank	Territorial Seed
Burpee Long Keeper	Baker Creek
Burpee's Burger Hybrid	Burpee
Burpee's Long Keeper	Burpee
Burpee's SuperSteak Hybrid	Burpee
Bush Big Boy	Burpee
Bush Early Girl	Burpee
BushSteak Hybrid	Burpee
Cabernet	Territorial Seed
Carbon	Baker Creek
Caspian Pink	Baker Creek
Celebrity	Johnny's Select
Celebrity	Territorial Seed
Chadwick	Seeds of Change
Chadwick	Baker Creek
Cherokee Green	Johnny's Select
Cherokee Purple	Baker Creek
Cherokee Purple	Johnny's Select
Cherokee Purple	Seeds of Change
Cherokee Purple	Territorial Seed
Cherokee Purple Hybrid	Burpee
Cherries Jubilee	Burpee
Cherry Roma	Burpee
Chianti Rose	Territorial Seed
Chile Verde	Baker Creek
Chiquita	Johnny's Select
Chocolate Cherry	Territorial Seed
Cobra	Johnny's Select
Cobra	Territorial Seed
Copia	Baker Creek
Corazon	Seeds of Change
Cordova	Territorial Seed
Cosmonaut Colkov	Baker Creek
Costaluto Genovese	Seeds of Change
Costoluto Genovese	Territorial Seed
Country Taste	Territorial Seed
Cour Di Bue	Baker Creek
Cream Sausage	Baker Creek
Crnkovic Yugoslavian	Baker Creek
Csikos Botermo	Baker Creek
Cuore Di Bue	Territorial Seed
Dafel	Johnny's Select
Delicious	Baker Creek
Delicious	Territorial Seed
Depp's Pink Firefly	Baker Creek
Double Rich	Seeds of Change
Dr Walter	Baker Creek
Dr. Carolyn	Baker Creek
Duggin White	Baker Creek
Dutchman (The)	Baker Creek
Early Cherry	Territorial Seed
Early Girl	Burpee
Early Girl	Territorial Seed
Egg Tomato	Baker Creek
Egg Yolk	Baker Creek
Emerald Evergreen	Baker Creek
Enalada Hybrid	Burpee
English Princess	Territorial Seed
Estiva	Johnny's Select
Fantastic	Territorial Seed
Favorita	Johnny's Select
Ferris Wheel	Baker Creek
Fireworks	Baker Creek
Floradade	Baker Creek
Folden King of Siberia	Baker Creek
Fourth of July	Burpee
Fox	Seeds of Change
Fox Cherry	Baker Creek
Fraziers Gem	Territorial Seed
Fresh Salsa	Burpee
Furry Yellow Hog	Baker Creek
Gajo Ce Melon	Baker Creek
Garden Pearch	Seeds of Change
German Johnson	Baker Creek
German Lunch Box	Baker Creek
German Queen	Seeds of Change
Geronimo	Johnny's Select
Gill's All Purpose	Territorial Seed
Ginat Pink Belgium Heirloom	Burpee
Glacier	Territorial Seed
Goden Mama Hybrid	Burpee
Gold Medal	Baker Creek
Gold Medal	Territorial Seed
Gold Nugget	Johnny's Select
Gold Nugget	Territorial Seed
Golden Honey Bunch	Territorial Seed
Golden Jubilee	Baker Creek
Golden Moanarch	Baker Creek
Golden Rave	Johnny's Select
Golden San Marzano	Territorial Seed
Golden Sunray	Baker Creek
Golden Sweet	Johnny's Select
Goldman's Italian-American	Baker Creek
Grace Lahman's Pink	Baker Creek
Grandfather Ashlock	Baker Creek
Granny Cantrell German Red	Baker Creek
Great White	Baker Creek
Great White	Johnny's Select
Green Grape	Baker Creek
Green Mondovan	Baker Creek
Green Sausage	Baker Creek
Green Zebra	Baker Creek
Green Zebra	Johnny's Select
Green Zebra	Seeds of Change
Green Zebra	Territorial Seed
Gypsy	Baker Creek
Hazelfield Farm	Baker Creek
Heatwave II	Burpee
Heinz	Territorial Seed
Henderson's Crimson Cushion	Baker Creek
Henderson's Pink Pondermosa	Baker Creek
Henderson's Windall	Baker Creek
Hillbilly	Baker Creek
Homestead	Baker Creek
HoneyBunch	Burpee
Huge Lemon Oxheart	Baker Creek
Illini Gold	Baker Creek
Illini Star	Baker Creek
Illinois Beauty	Baker Creek
Ingegnoli Gigante Liscio	Baker Creek
Isis Candy	Territorial Seed
Isis Candy Cherry	Baker Creek
Ivory Egg	Baker Creek
Japances Plum	Baker Creek
Japanese Black Triefele	Baker Creek
Japanese Black Trifele	Johnny's Select
Japanese Trifele Black	Territorial Seed
Jersey Giant	Baker Creek
Joen Thienemann's Australian Heart	Baker Creek
Jolly Elf	Territorial Seed
JTO-99197	Johnny's Select
Jujube Cherry	Baker Creek
Juliet	Johnny's Select
Kellogg's Breakfast	Territorial Seed
Kentucky Beefstake	Baker Creek
Koralik	Baker Creek
Koralik	Territorial Seed
Legend	Seeds of Change
Legend	Territorial Seed
Lime Green Salad	Baker Creek
Little Mama Hybrid	Burpee
Lollipop	Baker Creek
Magilla Rosa	Seeds of Change
Malakhitovaya Shkatulka	Baker Creek
Manitoba	Territorial Seed
Marglobe Supreme	Baker Creek
Mariana	Johnny's Select
Marmande	Baker Creek
Martian Giant	Seeds of Change
Marvel Striped	Seeds of Change
Mary Robinson's German BiColor	Baker Creek
Maxifort	Johnny's Select
Millionaire	Baker Creek
Mini Orange	Baker Creek
Missouri Pink Love Apple	Baker Creek
Momotaro	Territorial Seed
Moneymaker	Baker Creek
Moneymaker	Seeds of Change
Monika	Seeds of Change
Monomakh's Hat	Baker Creek
Moonglow	Baker Creek
Morado	Baker Creek
Morning Sun	Baker Creek
Mortgage Lifter	Baker Creek
Mortgage Lifter	Territorial Seed
Mortgage Lifter Heirloom	Burpee
Moskvich	Johnny's Select
Mountain Princess	Baker Creek
Mule Team	Baker Creek
Napa Grape Hybrid	Burpee
Nature's Riddle	Baker Creek
Nepal	Johnny's Select
New Girl	Johnny's Select
Nineveh Tomato	Baker Creek
Northern Delight	Territorial Seed
Northern Exposure	Burpee
Nova	Territorial Seed
Nyagous	Baker Creek
Old German	Territorial Seed
Old Italian	Baker Creek
Old Virginia	Baker Creek
Olivade	Johnny's Select
Omar's Lebanese	Baker Creek
Orange Banana	Baker Creek
Orange Blossom	Johnny's Select
Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge	Baker Creek
Orange Oxheart	Territorial Seed
Orange Paruche	Territorial Seed
Orange Wellington	Burpee
Oregon Cherry	Territorial Seed
Oregon Spring	Johnny's Select
Oregon Spring	Territorial Seed
Oregon Spring Bush	Seeds of Change
Ozark Pink	Baker Creek
Pantano Romanesco	Baker Creek
Paragon	Johnny's Select
Patio Princess Hybrid	Burpee
Paul Robeson	Baker Creek
Paul Robeson	Seeds of Change
Peacevine	Seeds of Change
Pearly Pink	Baker Creek
Pearson	Baker Creek
Peron Sprayless	Seeds of Change
Persimmon	Seeds of Change
Persimmon	Territorial Seed
Pierce's Pride	Baker Creek
Pike County Yellow	Baker Creek
Pineapple	Baker Creek
Pineapple	Territorial Seed
Pink Accordian	Baker Creek
Pink Beauty	Johnny's Select
Pink Bertoua	Baker Creek
Pink German Tree Tomato	Baker Creek
Pink Greapfruit	Baker Creek
Pink Honey	Baker Creek
Pink Oxheart	Baker Creek
Placero	Baker Creek
Plum Lemon	Baker Creek
Plum Tigris	Baker Creek
Polbig	Johnny's Select
Poma Amoris Minora Lutea	Baker Creek
Poterhouse Hybrid	Burpee
President Garfield	Baker Creek
Principe Borchese	Territorial Seed
Principe Borghese	Baker Creek
Pritchard	Baker Creek
Prize of Trials	Seeds of Change
Prudens Purple	Baker Creek
Pruden's Purple	Johnny's Select
Purple Calabash	Baker Creek
Purple Russian	Baker Creek
Quali T	Territorial Seed
Red Calabash	Seeds of Change
Red Currant	Territorial Seed
Red Fig	Baker Creek
Red Grape	Johnny's Select
Red Lightning Hybrid	Burpee
Red October Hybrid	Burpee
Red Pear	Seeds of Change
Red Pear Piriform	Johnny's Select
Red Zebra	Baker Creek
Rei Dos Temporoes	Baker Creek
Reinhard's Goldkirsche	Baker Creek
Reisetomate	Baker Creek
Rev. Morrow's Long Keeper	Baker Creek
Risentruabe	Baker Creek
Roma	Baker Creek
Roma Rio Grande	Baker Creek
Roma VF	Burpee
Roman Candle	Baker Creek
Rose	Baker Creek
Rose	Johnny's Select
Rose De Berne	Baker Creek
Rouge D'Irak Tomato	Baker Creek
Royal Chico	Baker Creek
Royal Hillbilly	Baker Creek
Rutgers	Baker Creek
Rutgers (Jersey) Heirloom	Burpee
Rutgers CS Space	Territorial Seed
San Marzano	Johnny's Select
San Marznao Gigante 3	Territorial Seed
Sapho	Johnny's Select
Sara Black	Baker Creek
Seattle Best of All	Baker Creek
Seeet Hearts	Territorial Seed
Silvery Fir Tree	Territorial Seed
Sioux	Baker Creek
Smarty	Johnny's Select
Snowberry	Baker Creek
Solid Gold	Johnny's Select
Southern Night	Baker Creek
Spear's Tennessee Green	Baker Creek
St. Pierre	Baker Creek
Steak Sandwich	Burpee
Striped Cavern	Baker Creek
Striped German	Johnny's Select
Striped Roman	Baker Creek
Striped Roman	Territorial Seed
Stupice	Baker Creek
Stupice	Seeds of Change
Stupice	Territorial Seed
Sub-Arctic Plenty	Baker Creek
Sugar Snack Hybrid	Burpee
Sun Cherry	Johnny's Select
Sun Gold	Johnny's Select
Sun Gold	Territorial Seed
Sun Gold Hybrid	Burpee
Sungold Select II	Baker Creek
Super Choice	Baker Creek
Super Marzano	Territorial Seed
Super Sweet 100 Hybrid	Burpee
Super Tasty	Burpee
Sweet Baby Girl Hybrid	Burpee
Sweet Jojo	Johnny's Select
Sweet Million	Territorial Seed
Sweet Olive	Johnny's Select
Sweet Pea	Territorial Seed
Sweet Seedless	Burpee
Sweet Tangarine	Burpee
Sweet Treats	Territorial Seed
Sweethart of the Patio	Burpee
Sweetie Pie	Territorial Seed
Tangerine Mama Hybrid	Burpee
Tansparent	Baker Creek
Tappy's Heritage	Baker Creek
Tasmaniam Blushing Yellow	Baker Creek
Tatar of Mnogolstan	Baker Creek
Taxi	Johnny's Select
Taxi	Territorial Seed
TC Jones	Baker Creek
Tess's Land Race Currant	Baker Creek
Thai Pink	Seeds of Change
Thai Pink Eggs	Baker Creek
Thai Red Turtle Eggs	Baker Creek
Thessaloniki	Baker Creek
Thessaloniki	Seeds of Change
Tiffen Mennonite	Territorial Seed
Tigerella	Baker Creek
Tigerella	Seeds of Change
Tiletz	Territorial Seed
Tlacolula Pink	Baker Creek
Tomande Hybrid	Burpee
Tomatoberry	Territorial Seed
Tomatoberry Garden	Johnny's Select
Tonadose Des Conores	Baker Creek
Topac	Baker Creek
True Black Brandywine	Baker Creek
Trust	Johnny's Select
Tumbler Hybrid	Burpee
Turkish Striped Monastery	Baker Creek
Tye-Dye Hybrid	Burpee
Unlce Mark Bagvy	Baker Creek
Valencia	Johnny's Select
Valiant	Baker Creek
Valley Girl	Johnny's Select
Veriegated	Territorial Seed
Vinson Watts	Baker Creek
Violet Jasper	Baker Creek
Viva Italia	Territorial Seed
Viva Italia Hybrid	Burpee
Vorlon	Baker Creek
Wapsipinicon Peach	Baker Creek
Washhington Cherry	Johnny's Select
Weeping Charley	Baker Creek
White Cherry	Johnny's Select
White Currant	Territorial Seed
White Tomesol	Baker Creek
White Wax	Baker Creek
Williams Striped	Baker Creek
Wisconsin 55	Seeds of Change
Woodle Orange	Baker Creek
Yellow Brandywine	Baker Creek
Yellow Mini	Johnny's Select
Yellow Mortgage Lifter	Baker Creek
Yellow Pear	Baker Creek
Yellow Pear	Johnny's Select
Yellow Pear	Seeds of Change
Yellow Pear	Territorial Seed
Yellow Pear Heirloom	Burpee
Yellow Perfection	Seeds of Change
Yellow Riesentraube	Baker Creek
Zapotec Pleated	Seeds of Change
Zebra Cherry	Territorial Seed

 

Winner in the Varieties Category

In terms of uniqueness, there is no clear winner as each of the seed companies is selling highly differentiated products.  But for sheer numbers of varieties, Baker Creek wins hands down with 873 veggies for gardeners to consider and purchase.

However, there are disadvantages to listing so many varieties.  I will cover this when I consider the “product information” and “entertainment value” criteria in my next two posts.  The final verdict on the best catalog company will be made when all 3 criteria are evaluated.  This remains for a future post.

Methodology

Why these five catalogs?  The number of catalogs available to the vegetable gardener is huge.  It’s beyond the scope of any one person to review then all.  I choose five of the leading catalogs by using  Internet traffic to the seed catalog web site as a measure of If this review is proves popular with my readers, I may add additional catalogs in the 2011 catalog review.

The information used for this review was taken from the printed catalogs.  Some of the seed companies offer additional varieties online. However, for the purpose of this review, I have not included online versions.

I have done so for a very specific reason.   I believe most gardeners use the catalog to make purchase decisions, even if they place the order online.  If a variety is not listed in the paper catalog, it’s much more likely to be outside of peoples decision set.  (Until I did this analysis, I had no idea Baker Creek sold chard because it’s only available online.)

I also believe paper catalog offers unique advantages over online browsing which is particularly relevant to gardeners who like to test new varieties each year; specifically, the opportunity to easily compare varieties within a catalog and across the multiple catalogs.  This is far more difficult online as it would require shoppers to open multiple windows in their web browser.  Again, I think this makes the paper catalog a better place to browse and I have limited my review accordingly.  I recognize that reasonable people may disagree with this approach.

Finally, a note about accuracy…. I did my best to accurately count varieties, but I probably missed some, or perhaps double counted.  If you find an error, please let me know.  However, the purpose of this review is to get a broad picture of what each seed catalog is providing.  I don’t believe it really matters if Burpee is selling 11 varieties of carrots instead of the 13 that I’ve reported here.  The point is, they are not selling 2 varieties, nor are the selling 100.