It's the photos

The garden catalogs have begun to arrive. (Oh happy day!) And, oh-my-gosh, I hate to be negative on such a joyous occasion, but I have one (tiny) grievance -- the photos. Nearly every single picture shows a closeup of the plant's bloom.

Now I'll be the first to admit that flowers catch my eye. They are beautiful. (What an inadequate word!) But over the years, I've learned that my garden is made up of much more than flowers. It's really the foliage and structure of a plant that I need to see -- not just the blooms. And yet, in all honesty, photos of single specimens can seem dull and not really likely to inspire me to part with many dollars and cents. (The main purpose of the catalog, after all.)

Maybe the answer lies in publications like ours doing a better job of showing gardeners what plants really look like in the garden. Maybe we should be taking photos of the warts and all in our -- and other people's -- gardens.

What do you think?