Most Enthusiastic gardeners agree that gardening is a grand adventure with thrilling experiences at almost every turn. Yet as I look around among my gardening acquaintances. I am amazed to find that many miss much of the joy of their hobby by limiting their activities to the few short months of summer.

There are many ways the hobby of gardening can be an absorbing enterprise the entire year, and one of them is by allowing the seed and nursery catalogs to carry you through strange and exciting adventures during the winter.

There is an idea abroad among matter-of-fact gardeners that a seed or nursery catalog is merely sales literature for ordering plant materials. Their catalogs are discarded after their needs are ordered so as not to clutter up the house. They miss the pleasure and instruction which can be theirs from the correct use of catalogs.

To make clear what one gardener thinks is correct use, let me recount a few of the exciting adventures that have come my way during the years in which I have let seed and nursery catalogs be a part of my year-round living, but please overlook the perpendicular pronoun if it becomes too prominent!

We all know how plants can have such an impact of homes and offices. Of course they look great, but they can also have strong psychological affects.

Scientific studies have found that live plants in offices have helped contribute to a reduction of sick leave and an increase in productivity. These are facts that cannot be disputed, and have contributed to the increase in the popularity of live plants in offices around the world. Few offices these days are not fitted with plants.

Amazingly, many of these beneficial effects are not exclusive to living plants. It has been found that high quality artificial foliage can also create similar effects. Green plants whether living or real, are both capable of creating beneficial psychological affects.

Gone are the days when silk plants and flowers were clearly artificial. Modern design and printing techniques enables the manufacture of realistic artificial silk plants and flowers that are difficult to distinguish from the originals. Most silk trees nowadays even include real wood stems, with aerial roots.

Artificial plants and flowers has now moved high-tech allowing for dramatic improvements in design and manufacture. This means that imperfections in the original leaves and petals are reproduced with exactness in order to create design masterpieces.