During the gloomy days of winter, gardeners can find inspiration for the upcoming garden season by perusing the myriad seed catalogs available online and by mail.

Gardeners can expect to find vegetable, herb and flower seeds, ranging from familiar heirlooms to newly developed varieties, in catalogs often delivered to mailboxes throughout the winter.

If they’re not being mailed to you, most modern seed catalogs can be found through a simple web search or viewed online.

Visit the Old Farmers’ Almanac website for a list of 40-plus free garden seed catalogs and places to buy seeds and plants online.

Seed catalogs have inspired home gardeners for centuries. Many have been published in Virginia, like W. Grossman & Son from the Petersburg Seed House, Wood’s Seeds from T.W. Wood & Sons in Richmond, and Slate’s Guide to Gardening from W.C. Slate Field and Garden Seeds in South Boston.

Online exhibits of more than 200,000 vintage seed catalogs can be viewed in the bit.ly/USDAcatalog.