Let's face it. There is a reason we all eventually fall under the spell of perennials. They are the easiest plants to grow and maintain, sure, but they are also the ones that produce the most beautiful flowers. This latter trait translates into really beautiful catalogs and Web-o-logs.

As a result, of all the gardening catalogs, these may be the most tempting from which to buy. You will never see a blemished flower nor will you ever see a bug-eaten leaf. Spend time looking through these catalogs, but think twice before you buy from them. Not only will the shipping be considerable, but anything you need that will grow here is most probably sold in our area.

There are always exceptions to the rule and in this instance it is Fritz Creek Garden (alaskahardy.com). We are really fortunate to have this Homer-based perennial nursery with one of the best Web catalog offerings you will find on the net. And just our luck -- everything Fritz Creek Garden carries should do well in your garden. Can you imagine? You can even drive down to Homer and pick up your order if you want to. This is the place Alaskans need to start when looking for perennials.

Next, a really great perennial catalog to peruse is Bluestone Perennials (bluestoneperennials.com). Check out the Web site where you will be able to find virtually any perennial you could possibly want, pictured in full color. The site is easy to navigate with sensible categories of plants. Be careful! It's really easy to click the "buy" button. Bluestone also offers a paper catalog, if you must.

Probably the most famous perennial catalog is White Flower Farm's. (whiteflowerfarm.com). Talk about beautiful pictures and a great way to learn the names of perennials. Not only are the pictures are wonderful, this is a fun read.

If it's a great read that you're looking for (not to mention absolutely top-notch plants) then you have to check out Plant Delight's Nursery (plantdelights.com). I visited this North Carolina nursery on a really hot day but was surprised at how many of the plants would do well in our decidedly cooler Alaskan yards. There are all sorts of things to look at on this site (check out the essay on assessing your zone). Paper catalogs can be ordered. Warning: Owner Tony Avent is into hostas and has one of the best nurseries I have ever had the honor to see.

If you are interested in growing perennials from seed, there are a few good sites to check out. One is found at hardyplants.com. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest site to use. However, in keeping with the idea you have the time on these wintery nights, you might consider clicking each letter and scrolling through the whole lot. Good zoneage information here.

Thompson and Mogan (tmseeds.com) has a good collection of photos of perennials. Or check out paseseeds.com. Go to the perennial section where you will find over 400 different perennials that you can grow from seed -- or could if you lived in Florida.

And, to end the list with the thought that you really should rely on local sources for perennials because they will be more or less guaranteed to survive, check out an English blog just for study, not purchase: secretseeds.com. It took a while for the photos to load into the page, so you will need a bit of patience.

It is important to remember that your computer can do lots of things to make reading garden catalogs more pleasurable. Usually you can double-click on a picture and enlarge it, for example. You can even copy pictures and load them into a word processing document to create your own catalog of favorite or want-to-obtain plants.

I hear from most of the seed catalogs about which I've written. They are stunned, literally, by the response they get from readers of this column. It's clear to me that we even enjoy gardening in the middle of the winter. More catologs next week.