In recent columns I’ve listed this year’s must-have catalogs and suggested perennial catalogs that might interest the Alaska gardener. This week, how about some unusual catalogs, or at least catalogs that present unusual plants.

I have to start with Plant Delights Nursery (plantdelights.com). This one is new to me, but one look at the cover and you’ll begin to wonder if the rest of the catalog is equally interesting and fun. It is. Check out “Ghosts of Catalogs Past” for some fine garden humor. This is a well-written catalog with pictures and plenty of Zone 4 stuff to consider. Check out the new clematis. You’ll find more hostas than sesame seeds on a bun and all sorts of neat plants. And they ship to Alaska.

Then there is Shady Deals Nursery — “nursery, emu ranch, nail salon, video poker and auto body repair” (shadydeals nursery.com). This is a great diversion ranging from serious horticulture to hilarity. You’ll find many unbelievable plants. Then check out the book section. There are titles that had this author laughing so hard he had to go outside and get a breath of cold air.

On a more serious note is the catalog from Seeds of Change (seedsofchange. com), one of the first, if not the first, really good organic catalog. Why is it important to have organic seeds? If for no other reason than that the places where organic seed crops are grown are not being polluted. Besides, who wants chemically treated seeds in their soils? In any case, all Southcentral gardeners should check out the garlic section. You’ll find great pictures of varieties but also great instructions. The catalog can be downloaded in PDF format, or you can get a hard copy.

Next is Seedman (seedman.com). “Seeds from around the world” would be unusual enough, but Seedman also offers all sorts of aids to get seeds to germinate. There’s a lot of neat information here, especially for the indoor Alaska gardener.

Another new one for me is Edelweiss Perennials (edelweissperennials.com). It features, among other things, hardy geraniums, wood anemones, campanulas and grasses. Offerings are marked with their zones, and I particularly drooled over the hardy alpine and rock-garden plants. Again, this catalog was chosen because it has some unusually good stuff.

Speaking of drooling, I was taken aback by some of the listings at rareflora.com, the site for Gardino Nursery Corp. Check out the houseplants and the caudiciforms (plants with a fat trunk). Any of these would do fine indoors, even in Alaska. This is a very unusual and interesting set of collections. It makes me wonder how people get started with one of these specialty nurseries.

Finally, take a look at Oikos Tree Crops (oikostreecrops.com). This Midwest nursery has a bunch of interesting trees and fruits. If you dig a bit — no pun intended — you’ll find each listing’s hardiness zone. There are lots of things here that should make it in Southcentral. Oikos ships to Alaska and gets a great rating from customers.

Of course, what’s unusual is in the eye of the gardener beholder. I found these to be interesting. Shoot me an e-mail if you have favorite unusual catalogs that I should put on a future list. [www.adn.com]