Garden long enough, and you may tire of common flowers and gravitate toward the unique and unusual. While local nurseries occasionally offer offbeat flowers, they often lack the space to consistently carry a wide variety.

Mail-order catalogs, however, present an exciting world of plants with captivating blossoms in every color and shape, many you may have never imagined. The challenge will be choosing which to grace your garden.

Here are eight mail-order companies offering a selection of unusual and often hard-to-find flowers:

Canyon Creek Nursery

Address: 3527 Dry Creek Road, Oroville, CA 95965

Phone: (530) 533-2166 | Catalog: $2

This family-operated nursery offers a variety of uncommon perennial flowers, including:

• Abutilon ‘Victorian Lady’: A double-flowered variety with soft pink petals, possibly a reintroduction of an 1800s cultivar.
• Yarrow ‘Moonshine’: Bright lemon-yellow flowers and silvery foliage, growing to more than 2 feet high.
• Ornamental Oregano ‘Kent Beauty’: Trailing stems with light green bracts tinged with pink, great for dried arrangements.

Digging Dog Nursery

Address: P.O. Box 471, Albion, CA 95410

Phone: (707) 937-1130 | Catalog: $3.50

Another family-run business with many unusual flowers, including:

• Rock Jasmine (Androsace lanuginosa): Drought-tolerant, woolly silver-green leaves and cascading clusters of pink and white flowers.
• Campanula ‘Elizabeth Rose’: Rosy-purple bell-shaped flowers with white and purple-spotted throats.
• Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis): Tubular flowers in purple, pink, yellow, or white; ideal for dry, sunny spots.

High Country Gardens

Address: 2902 Rufina St., Santa Fe, NM 85705

Phone: (800) 925-9387 | Catalog: Free

This nursery specializes in drought-tolerant plants, including:

• Veronica ‘Blue Reflection’: A hybrid with profuse true blue flowers.
• Salvia ‘May Night’: Deep-purple flower spikes that bloom continually if dead-headed.
• Oenothera ‘Missouri Evening’: Yellow flowers that open each afternoon, cascading well over rocks.

The Natural Gardening Co.

Address: 217 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960

Phone: (707) 766-9303 | Catalog: Free

This Northern California nursery offers a variety of unusual flowering plants, including:

• Columbine ‘Nora Barlow’: A double flower, pink with white tips, perfect for bouquets.
• French Lavender: Blooms longer than most lavenders, with narrow, gray-green leaves and lavender-purple flowers.
• Morning Glory ‘Blue Star’: Large 5-inch flowers with sky-blue stripes and a soft lemon-yellow throat.

Shepherd’s Garden Seeds

Address: 30 Irene St., Torrington, CT 06790

Phone: (860) 482-3638 | Website: www.shepherdseeds.com

This company recently added 23 hard-to-find flowers, including:

• Blue Lace Flower (Trachymene coerulea): A native of Australia with finely cut flowers resembling Queen Anne’s lace.
• Zinnia ‘Bonita’: A red and yellow mix with tiny, buttonlike flowers in faded brick red and rich golden tones.
• Sunflower ‘Inca Jewels’: A South American variety with a range of colors, from yellow and gold to orange and burgundy.

Thompson & Morgan

Address: P.O. Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527

Phone: (800) 274-7333 | Catalog: Free

This company offers a variety of hard-to-find plants, including:

• Inca Jewels Sunflower: Available in a variety of colors, from bright yellow to bicolored bronze.