Every year I get loads of seed catalogs in the mail. I typically review some of my favorites, but I thought I might introduce you to two that found their way to my door for the first time this year.

I think the most impressive one is that of the D. Landreth Seed Co. of Baltimore. They note on their cover that they are "the oldest seed house in America" and they have been "purveyors of fine seed since 1784." In fact, they are the fifth-oldest corporation in America. They claim to have sold seed to every American president from George Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

That's impressive, but the company has had a pretty low profile since the 1940s. The owners are committed to restoring the company's reputation of offering quality garden seed. While they sell some newer varieties of vegetables and flowers, they're practicing niche marketing and concentrating their efforts in three areas. Their areas of focus are heirloom and vintage seeds for growing in gardens, for growing in containers and small urban gardens, and for easy growing in children's gardens.

One interesting bit of this company's history is regarding zinnias. The founding father of the company, David Landreth, introduced the zinnia from Mexico to U.S. gardeners in 1798. Today the company offers a good number of big and small zinnias. While zinnias don't have the delicate beauty of a pansy or petunia, they do offer bold bright colors and are quite willing to tolerate the heat of summer. The 2- to 3-foot-tall "Giant Fantasy Flowered" zinnias have huge "cactus flowers" that are up to 6 inches in diameter. The flowers have "feathery, loosely arranged petals that give them an airy appearance." They can be purchased as a mix or in separate colors of Cherry Time (cherry red), Floradale (glowing scarlet), Lilac Time (lavender), Snow Time (pure white), and Sunny Boy (buttercup yellow).

If you're a tomato fancier and you like something different, you might want to consider ordering some seed of "Silvery Fir Tree." This tomato variety, yes tomato variety, has very different leaves from other tomatoes. They're silvery gray in color and very feathery. The plants are compact, growing only to about 2 feet tall, but produce heavy crops of 3- to 3.5-inch-diameter round red tomatoes that are somewhat flattened. They're great for container and patio growing with the bonus of being ornamental.

Perhaps one of their most interesting veggie varieties is a melon called "Queen Anne's Pocket." D. Landreth Co. highly recommends these for a child's garden. The melons are very small, 3.5 inches long by 2.5 inches wide with smooth skin and jagged orange and yellow stripes. They indicate that the flesh is edible but no one, especially children, would want to eat them because they're tasteless. So why do they sell it? It's an heirloom variety that's been grown simply for its unbelievable fragrance. It was popular in Victorian times when women carried them around in their pockets so they would smell nice.

Just like old clothes and hairstyles, it's not unusual for old vegetable and flower "hand-me-downs" to become "new" again. If you want to try some very interesting heirloom vegetable and flower varieties, contact D. Landreth Seed Co. at 1-800-654-2407 or www.landreth.com.

The catalog I'm most excited about this year is from Klehm's Song Sparrow. It's a good thing that I'm practicing restraint in my plant purchases this year or else I'd be breaking the bank getting many of the special plants they have for sale. Here are just a few of the plants I'm trying to resist:

-- Corylus x "Rosita" -- This is a hybrid hazelnut with large, bold, deep red leaves that hold their color well into the heat of summer. It's a smaller tree, growing only 12 to 15 feet in 10 years.

-- Betula nigra "Summer Cascade" -- Here's a new cultivar of river birch. It has a graceful weeping form and grows to a height and width of 12 feet in eight years -- a fast grower. They note that it's pest resistant and hopefully that means it resists attack from the bronze birch borer as do other river birch.

-- Ginkgo biloba "Spring Grove" -- This is a dwarf to semi-dwarf gingko that develops a somewhat pyramidal form. The typical fan-shaped leaves hug the stems with whorled bases. Growing only 2 to 3 feet tall and 1 to 1.5 feet wide in five years, it won't outgrow its spot in small landscapes.

-- Smaller yet is Summer Rainbow, a gingko with yellow streaked leaves, growing to a diminutive height of 20 inches (yes, inches) in 10 years.

In addition to some very special trees and shrubs, Klehm's Song Sparrow also offers a fantastic selection of clematis, peonies, hosta, daylilies, perennial flowers for sunny spots and perennial flowers for shady areas. The company's new Violet Elizabeth clematis with its large, mauve-pink double flowers is perhaps the most beautiful clematis I've ever seen. Its nursery is in Wisconsin and almost all of its plants are hardy here. You can reach the company at 1-800-553-3715 or www.songsparrow.com, where you can find Web-only plant specials.

* Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Office in Benton County.