CLOSED: FAVORITE SEED CATALOGS....

What are your TOP 10, and why?

(Edited to say that it can be online or paper catalogs...)

OK, here are my top 10 in no particular order...

1. JLHudson (for price, germination info and variety)
2. Alplains (for hard to get and unique seeds, also germ info)
3. Chilterns Seeds (for a larger selection of seeds)
4. Seed Saver's Exchange
5. Pinetree Seeds (good prices, smaller pkgs.)
6. Swallowtail Garden Seeds (good variety for ornamentals)
7. Select Seeds
8. Baker Creek
9. Sample Seeds (http://www.sampleseeds.com)
10. Tatiana's Tomatobase (online)

OK, more than 10...Territorial Seed Co, Johnny's Selected Seeds, Sand Hill Preservation Center

And I just found a new one that I would like to explore...
http://www.butterflyencounters.com

....and another one for those of you who like sweet peas..

http://lathyrus.com

This message was edited Dec 29, 2013 12:44 PM

I have a few catalogs from last year and a few from this year, but everyone will have different favorites depending upon what type of gardening they do. I have been looking mostly for flower seeds, mainly perennials. So far I have not found what I consider to be a great catalog for that. Mainly it seems the prices are way too high, but on line so far my favorite is :
http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/index.html#gsc.tab=0
They seem to have a good selection, and reasonable prices. I love how the seeds are arranged by groups with pictures and at the end of each grouping is a little paragraph of directions on how to plant the seeds. I have not seen a printed copy of their catalog, and I am not sure they even offer one. I often feel guilty about ordering seed catalogs when it would save so much paper by just looking online, so this year I have not ordered any, but I still get quite a few.

If I thought about it more I might make a few changes, but my first thoughts on print catalogs mostly for seeds are these.

1. Baker Creek; beautiful catalog, nice selection of heirlooms, sympatico philosophically.
2. Chiltern's Seeds; beautiful catalog (cover, layout), unique selections, good customer service
3. GeoSeed, best prices for bulk wholesale seeds, excellent customer service, relatively low postage cost.
4. JLHudson; great selection with some hard to find species, good prices and postage.
5. Pinetree Garden Seeds; good choice when you want to try just a few seeds of something.
6. Harris Seed, Grower Version; Good customer service, new intros available in bulk
7. Select Seeds; nice selection of cottage garden favorites.
8. Stoke's; good array of annuals in separate colors.
9. Seeds of Change; favorite for organic seeds.
10. Hpsseed; great cultural information for every genus sold.

This message was edited Dec 28, 2013 5:50 PM

Johnny's
Harris
Stokes
Totally Tomatoes
Tomato Growers Supply
ne seed
Reimer Seeds
Jordan Seeds
Gourmet Seeds
High Mowing Seeds

Not to many in paper version. All are online.
I have ordered from all these this year.

Seed Savers Exchange
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Seeds from Italy
High Mowing Organic Seeds
Mountain Valley Growers
Victory Seeds
Mountain Rose Herbs
Prairie Moon Nursery
Heirloom Seeds
Everwilde Farms

Many organic, open-pollinated and non-GMO seed offerings. Also numerous herb, veggie, wildflower and wild grass seeds.

back to the top...


This message was edited Dec 29, 2013 12:37 PM

johnny's
Select
Swallowtail
Pinetree
Totally Tomatoes
Shumway's
Stokes
Gurneys First five most of the time . can't do ten I have tried a few from sample seeds .
Swallowtail and johnny's are the only two I have purchased from this year , Unless you count two Apple trees from Arbor Day .
Early 2013 from Gurney ,Blueberry and Cherry plants , All came in great shape ...

Smartseeds
Swallowtail
Geoseed
Rareseeds (Petaluma seed bank)
Sampleseeds
J.L. Hudson
Horizon Herb

I've gotten seed from the first 5 this year. The first three are my all time favs. I happened to be driving through Petaluma and saw the "seed bank" building and had to go in. Then I realized I had ordered from them before. Great heirloom veges, and I got some purple artichokes for next year.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Diane's Seeds yet. http://www.dianeseeds.com

I've gotten some great ones from her. Not a huge selection, but they are all open pollinated and non GMO, which I prefer. She also gives directions for planting on the site after each group.

If I could tuck in another one I would include The Fragrant Path, which I don't think has been mentioned either.

Hi all :)
I will take note of some of the above mentioned companies (when I actually have room for more seed!), but wanted to add a few more:
1. Botanical Interests; nice selection of heirloom, no GMO veggie seeds, pretty illustrations also
2. Native American Seed; native grasses, wildflowers, prairie restoration bundles, aaaand customer service is friendly to boot!
3. Kitazawa Seed Co; the source for hard to find asian veggies!
4. Bountiful Gardens; heirloom, untreated, OP seeds. Love the crunchy feel of this sustainable company
5. Burpee; you really can't beat their end of season sale, I end up getting 5-10 packets averaging $1 each, including shipping if you google promo code for free shipping.

I also love Johnny's and swallowtail!

I often buy seeds from Botanical Interests and could have added them to a longer list.

Here's a stumper:

WHERE do you all buy your hard-to-get TROPICAL plant seeds, such as for zone 10 and above?

I'm in zone 9a but I can grow most of the plants from Smartseeds. She has a nice selection of some of the more exotic plants, she is located in zone 10, southern California.

domehomedee I love that site, oh my I want a few seeds of every single thing they have....LOL

Jan

I'll say. I definitely want some of their Heirloom veggie seeds. Now to narrow it down ... if I can.

Lol Thanks to you guys, I put in yet another seed order (I had already used Everwilde and Crossman). I am not sure where I will plant them, but I finally had time to go through JL Hudson's sight and ordered five or so varieties. There were some neat things there. There is always room, right? :) Thanks for sharing!

I went to JL Hudson seeds.
They have Dragon Tongue beans. I've never seen them in a seed catalog before.
We get them from our wholesale company.
They are a very old fashioned wax bean. Big flat pods that are purple & yellow. Very tender & very good flavor. Can also let dry & use as a dry been.
Bernie

Bernie, you should try sword beans - look them up - super beautiful bean!

I did look it up. Doesn't sound good in the full description.
Might not even grow here.

IMHO, it's a beautiful vine with big purple flowers and the beans look amazing!

I grow them every year Kay, because they are striking, but I've never tried to eat them.

Nor have I eaten them Alana - they are just a beautiful vine.

That's why I won't try them, not good to eat!

Wow I could drop some dough at that smartseeds! If only I had room for another packet of seed, but no way.. I should have gotten in on that seed purge I saw around here somewhere! And those sword beans are nothing short of amazing.. I realllllly want some now! Aaah I need 'help' ;)

Kitazawa
Tainong
Territorial
Johnnies
Baker Creek
Fedco
Victory
Hazards
Botanical Interests
Nichols

Evelyn that sweet pea site is awesome!!!! thanks for posting it.


I bought seeds from a site called seedsforthee got great germination rates from them. the packets are very reasonable, the shipping very reasonable and the service is amazing.

I have another one if you are interested....

http://www.enchantingsweetpeas.com

(A bit on the pricey side, but nice information about all the varieties.)

There was another one, but they went out of business, sorry to say...

This message was edited Jan 11, 2014 9:58 PM

Here's the link to seedsforthee. Looks good!

http://seedsforthee.com/

I ordered a few things from seedsforthee...great prices! Thanks!

Keep the sites coming....I am having fun looking over them and ordering from some. :)


This message was edited Jan 12, 2014 8:25 PM

I've enjoyed looking too. I am doing my best not to order anything, LOL.
I have sooo many seeds for this year already.

We are not excluding seedaholics...LOL!! ^_^

Dome, trade some to others who might have something you want/need.

I'm the same way - lots of seeds - probably more than I'll ever be able to plant. I've traded and given away but somehow they still manage to multiply! lol.

I just love seeds and being in a the planting mode for when they sprout!

Well, if you have too many seeds you don't intend to grow and I HAVE too many, maybe we should make up a wish list and see if we can do some trading!

Can you have too many seeds? When do I know when I have too many?

I know I have too many when I fear going in my laundry room. There are bags in there I reallyyyyy need to clean and sort already! Or when my husband doesn't reply when I say I'm expecting more in the mail..

Whatever! He has beer, I have seeds! Lol

:) thanks for the chuckle.