The rain continues as we exceed by more than 14 inches the normal amount for the winter rainy season. As mentioned before, waterlogged soils are not only at risk for slides but for drowning plants that prefer dryer roots.

Soaked soils can also play havoc with septic system drainage fields and just about any soil alteration.

It’s going to be a while before soils dry out enough for serious late-winter gardening. Go ahead and shop for containerized trees, shrubs and perennials, but hold off on digging in wet soils to avoid compaction and damage to soil structure.

While waiting for the ground to dry out, now is a good time to order and peruse seed catalogs.

One of the great things about plants from seed is you are likely to discover interesting specimens not available in nurseries. And growing your own plants from seed is fun and economical. It helps keep us in touch with the reality that plants are not widgets produced by the underpaid in overseas factories.

Following are a few notable seed sources that regularly make their way onto the Lazy Garden resource table.

Territorial Seed Company is located in Cottage Grove, Ore., where they are familiar with our short summer planting season For that reason, they provide flower and veggie seeds and plants more likely to succeed in cool, soggy gardens. Get the catalog and order online at www.territorialseed.com.

Veseys Seeds is part of a British company that is a good source of stylish European veggies, including certified organic seed.

New for 2006 is Annapolis Lettuce - a very dark red romaine type that will work its way into the decorative garden with ease.

Visit them online at www.veseys.com or order the color catalog at 1-800-363-7333.

One of my favorites for veggie seeds is John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. Artful drawings illustrate an informative catalog that includes tips on growing and harvest, plus a few tasty recipes like Grilled Portobello Stroganoff.

Check out their website at www.kitchengardenseeds.com and sign up for the useful newsletter.

For a wide range of heirloom seeds, Select Seeds is on my coffee table. Great color photography and extensive information (along with accurate botanical names!) make it well worth the $1 cover charge.

Some of the selections like opium poppies and castor beans surely will drive Homeland Security into fits and an order will surely put you on the government’s “watch list” - just the reason to do it.

Go to www.selectseeds.com to order online.

The truly adventurous (and those who don’t need pretty pictures to garden well) will find lots of interest in J. L. Hudson’s Ethnobotanical Catalog of Seeds. This black-and-white, small print catalog has been supplying unusual plants since 1911. The proprietor may be a bit eccentric - he proudly states that he has no business or personal telephone and credit cards are not accepted - but the selection is vast. All seeds are $2 a packet, and must be ordered by mail.

I have an order in for the variegated ornamental tobacco. Lots of information and instructions for getting this great catalog can be found at www.jlhudsonseeds.net. No online ordering available.

Q My mophead and lace hydrangeas rarely bloom. Each year, I prune them in spring and they grow in partial shade with good irrigation. Is there some special technique to get them to bloom regularly?

A Hydrangeas are nearly as ubiquitous in the Puget Sound Northwest as are camellias, rhodies and azaleas. They find our cool, moist climate to their liking. Both mophead and lace hydrangeas are varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla (hydrangea indicates they like to be moist, and macrophylla describes their large oval leaves - see, botanical Latin can be very useful).

Improper pruning is the likely reason for reduced bloom. These hydrangeas bloom on new wood that springs directly from the previous year’s wood. Shoots that grow from older wood do not bloom. Peaches behave similarly.

So, the key is to prune only when necessary and then do it properly.

To properly prune H. macrophylla varieties, trim back last year’s wood no further than a few nodes above the prior year’s wood. Last year’s wood will be light colored, while older wood is dark. Nodes are found where last year’s leaves were attached.

Flowers will come from the buds that develop off last year’s branches. Do this work in mid-February around the same time roses are pruned.

Other species of hydrangea require different treatment according to their own cycle.

Plants don’t require pruning just because you own clippers or a chainsaw. Much of the work done by self-described “garden services” is just plain abusive: shrubs trimmed into boxes and lollipops, lower limbs hacked off exposing knobby knees. None of that is pruning.

E-mail inquiries and suggestions to lazy.gardener@comcast.net