Gardener's Supply store in Vermont is a dirt-lover's dream

You may have seen the catalog for Gardener's Supply Co. It has lots of compost pails, bird baths and solar lights.

But you haven't seen the half of it.

The original store in Burlington, Vt., has tons more stuff. Tons. Seed packets from 12 suppliers around the world cover a wall. There are German-made hand tools, wonderful little sculptures, gloves galore and products the company designs and manufactures itself, including self-watering pots. And that's just inside.

Outside, plants cover 3 acres. Raised beds of herbs and vegetables have names like Salad Bar and Cook's Choice. When I visited this month, I saw my first Brussels sprouts and artichokes pre-supermarket.

Need to hit the restroom? There's a trash can just for the compost-bound paper towels.

Gardener's Supply is the FAO Schwarz of garden shops, with Al Gore's green conscience and (the original) Ben & Jerry's social conscience.

Founded in 1983 by a group of avid gardeners, the stores (there are two now) are employee-owned - by avid gardeners. They donate 8 percent of pretax profit to garden initiatives that improve people's lives and the environment. That includes a grant program, the Healthy Sprout Awards, for schools and young people. It is administered by the nonprofit National Gardening Association, based a few miles away in South Burlington.

Why should gardeners in Tampa care about a store so far away?

For one, if you're ever in Vermont, Gardener's Supply should be on your list of places to visit. It's that much fun. Forget that it's Zone 4 to our Zones 9a, 9b, 10 and all the micro-climates in between. There's a lot to take home.

It's also a company with ideas worth bringing home. Some seem pretty easy - like the paper towels. I'd feel a lot better about my decadent preference for paper towels in public restrooms if I knew they'd eventually be helping to grow flowers.

Rainbow Spiral Supports

Exclusive to Garden Supply Co., these plant supports can stand alone as garden art, as they do in this garden (a store employee lives here). They're 5 feet tall, made of powder-coated steel and come in sets of five: yellow, green, red, orange and blue. They cost $34.95 plus $9.90 for shipping at www.gardeners.com.

Get Lost Wasp

It's a simple concept: Hang a fake wasp's nest and fool wasps, hornets and yellow jackets into believing this territory is taken. They'll make their nests elsewhere. Campers recommend it in online forums. I found Get Lost at Garden Supply, but it's not sold in the company's catalogue or on its Web site. Find a pack of two for $12.99 at www.naturalinsectcontrol.com.

Nitrile Gloves

A store employee steered me away from a display of pricier garden gloves toward these. "Do you hate wearing gloves?" he asked. "You'll love these. They don't feel like gloves at all. Usually I say you get what you pay for, but these are fantastic. And they're only $6.95."

The gloves come in five colors, sizes extra-small to extra-large. They're available both in the catalog and at www.gardeners.com.