History snippets with your seeds

This is the first year in a long, long time that I'm living in a house with a yard and places to put flowers. I might even go crazy and try for a vegetable garden. (Around here, the operative word is try. We have a lot of mule deer in town. 'Nuf said.)

At any rate, I'm having fun reading in the Seed Savers 2006 Catalog, which features the old-timey flowers I favor, and an astonishing array of vegetables (not to mention books and gifts).

Sometimes, you get a bit of lore with your sales pitch. For instance, in the write-up for Nigra Hollyhock:

Alcea rosea Grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, but mentioned even earlier by John Parkinson in 1629, who described this single hollyhock as being "of a darke red like blackblood." Appears black on overcast days, but will have a hint of red in the bright sun. Plant next to a white fence for a spectacular contrast. Self-seeding biennial, 5-6' tall.

Or, for Outhouse Hollyhock:

Alcea rosea This classic variety has graced outbuildings on Iowa farmsteads for over a century. A favorite at Heritage Farm. Single blooms of white, light pink, pinkish-red, magenta and burgundy. Years ago, refined ladies just looked for the hollyhocks and didn't have to ask where the outhouse was. Blooms the second year in the North of first year in more moderate, long-seasoned climates. Self-seeding biennial, 6-9' tall....