What prompts you to choose the seeds and plants that you grow?

I choose only plants that are native to my area and am gradually removing all non natives. I also seek out native plant nurseries that are committed to growing native plants.

After reading Doug Tallamys wonderful book "Bringing Nature Home" and hearing him speak at Lehigh University I realized it was critical to use mostly natives to support the local insect population who in turn would support all the other creatures, birds, butterflies, snakes, etc..

It was exciting to see how much difference all the small suburban gardens can make after the birds migrate back in the spring if natives are planted. Some trees, like the oak, support over 400 species of insects compared to the handful supported by non natives. This was a real eye opener for me to see the green movement change the garden too.

My reason for choosing the plants I do is simply to try to grow plants I like, including some that might push the limits for my zone, and to grow more different species and cultivars than I have tried in the past. I want to grow as a gardener and experience as many plants as I can. I'm lucky to be in zone 7 which seems to be on the edge for both northern and some southern plants, although my experience with lupines has been frustrating. They simply don't like our heat and humidity.

The gardeners here on DG have been most instrumental in my broadening horizons as a plantswoman!

Moving into a house that has long been landscaped the way I liked it from the beginning, I have to get plants in that go with what is here and throw in a few different ones, too, that compliment the landscape.

Ann

I choose plants that won't mind our heat & humidity and will grow in partial/full shade since we have lots of trees.

A blend of the above reasons for me...
The "climate & zone" factor for vegetables due to our growing season. Although we can have a spring and a fall garden, I've learned the growing season for both are actually short. I have a few citrus trees also that are affected by the zone.
The "unusual plants with unique characteristics" for the oddity potted plants and bloomers I like to grow.

Other, light or lack of light is a lot of what I base my purchases and/or trades on. Mostly natives though.

Doug

Since my garden is largely in containers, I look for things that will do well in containers. And I'll TRY just about anything that strikes my fancy!

I grow plants both for enjoyment and for my hybridization work. For enjoyment I choose from a wide variety of colorful plants, with an emphasis on unusual. For my work I choose Alocasias, Philodendrons, Anthuriums and a few other aroids.

As well as unusual characteristics, I also like to plant something that no one else has, but of course that wasn't an option LOL

I planted some datura in my front flower garden and had great success with it.
No one else had seen it before, and it's very difficult to find.
I put them at the back of the garden, as they're very large, then plant native plants everywhere else - Daturas are my only non-native ones now. I am going to try a Brugmansia this year, but otherwise I try to do xeroscaping. Luckily these 2 flowers are not only drought resistant, but Dats are self-seeding, and Brugs root from cuttings, so I can always have them grow from year to year.
Neither of them would survive, as plants, in our climate - but they're lovely as annuals!

I like to grow things that I have not grown before. I find it interesting to watch the plant progress through its various stages - gives me a deeper understanding of the plant & its family.
I also like to try things that stretch the flowering season, or food for us & the critters that visit my place.
Mainly, I want to grow it all.

I'm a combo of what sempervirens & woofie said. Luckily, there are natives that can tolerate my containers. ;-)

I planted for other reasons, for use, all within zone 7b/8a:

1) fruits and nuts, and some vegetables, for food;
2) native species for wildlife of all types;
3) non--native species for butterflies and hummingbirds;
4) other ornamentals for landscaping;
5) some flowers marginally useful for #3 just because they're fun!

Most of my seed grown plants are veggies except for the few self-sowing annuals in the flower beds. I like unusual flavors, colors, and types of veggies. This spring I planted five colors of carrots, seven types of radishes, and four types of lettuce including green with purple flecks. I think the only color of veggies I don't have is blue but I haven't found any true blue veggies yet.

BTW, I never plant summer squash because we know so many people who always have more than enough and share with us :)

"I have another reason for choosing the plants and seeds that I do. (tell us!)" – Endangered conifers

Resin

I voted 'another reason' as well.

I maintain several heirloom vegetables that are not available commercially. Without the care that I give them to produce pure, viable seed, they might become extinct.

I started with tropicals and really love them and will alway's have some, but my zone is not tropical and that means alot of work for me every year. So I will be downsizing considerably over the next couple of years and adding plants that require not quite so much work and are zone friendly. I say that now, but you know how it is.

I grow whatever strikes my fancy. Either something I see at a nursery I can't live without, or a pretty picture in a seed catalog.

I have been trying to incorporate edibles into everything, including things that serve as both edible AND ornamental.
Of course, there will always be things I grow because I like them, but I have been pleasantly surprised how pretty some veggies and fruits can be.

I grow pretty much anything I can. But, my first and foremost rule is: If it has ANY unusual characteristic(s), I MUST have it. I also have recently started collecting Ipomoeas, so I am always on the lookout for a 'new' one or an interesting species.

I could care a fig about the landscape so I just plop down whatever I get for the yard but where I buy seeds is for my veggies and that's all about the taste. Second would be productivity and how well it handled the climate.

I grow outside whatever will tolerate our heat and wind. Most of my hoyas will not bloom until I get them off the front porch and into some sun. Today we didn't have any wind, so maybe the spring winds are almost over with.

Any colored or variegated foliage gets me anytime plus I love orchids, too. The orchids love my front porch and continuously bloom year around.
Inside I get to grow on gro light stands and here is where I spend my time.......in the house!

I would never have the collection of plants I have if I hadn't joined DG and met so many wonderful trading partners. I just received over 50 new leaves of streps and in return, I am sending her a big basket of Hoya Imperialis.......which are readily available here.

Climate is always the first consideration here in Western NY State (think blizzard of 77) but other factors are important too. Plants must do well without chemicals (no finicky ones) and, as I am getting older and a bit less able, easy care is becoming more important.

I like natives the best and that's most of my plants. I also like butterfly host and nectar plant...and if it's native also, that's a plus. Then there are herbs, veggies and fruits that have practical uses.

We hybridize irises, especially dwarfs etc.Add plants which look good at other seasons, childhood favorites like lillies of the valley in our deep shade. We try other things, but if there is sun, we put an iris in it.

I buy what stikes my fancy or looks a little unusuallove walking the nieghbors through and showing whats new. They all think I'm crazy lol

Climate and zone matter to me because I hate to waste time and money on plants that are unlikely to do well. Sometimes I push it a little bit in one direction or another. Xeric plants are important in my area.

I garden for hummingbirds and butterflies and fragrance primarily. I also give consideration to plants that will feed no-hummers. Just today we discovered a Cardinal nesting in our Buddleia bush. i couldn't see them but DH (who is taller) says they're still embryo-ish looking so we're going to wait a while before we try to get any pics. I also like unique plants and it helps if they're in my zone but I do push it @ times. Humidity is more of a limiting factor than anything else.

Maggie

I grow what I can afford for that year and this year it's looking very slim. I'll plant what I can and mulch what I can't. I usually love to try growing anything I can in zone 5, either in pots or in the ground, colorful or just green texture.

I chose 'other'

the deer, rabbits, voles, squirrels, possums...influence my choices...

Sometimes I run across something that I (think) have to have --the color--the foliage --- the shape.... and I make a leap of faith that I can protect it........... I am usually regretful... But what do 'they' say "hope springs eternal!!"

If it was up to me I would plant most anything that would grow. Not Kudza or anything that is really invasive but I would have a yard full. But since I live on the Coast and subjected to some damage from Salt Water, mist could be from fog, rain or any other way of getting to me. This is not a really big problem but I do keep it in mind, plus we have an awful lot of insects that love to eat so I have to think what can do well with some of these things in mind. Last I have to consider my space and what I have room for. That is probably the biggest deciding factor when I plant something. Many things that say will not grow well here or it would need cooler climates has done wonderfully and some things that were for this region have done poorly so I just kinda try new things as they come along....and throw all the expert opinions out the window....lol

I like growing flowers that provide nectar and seeds and color.

What's HOA?

An HOA is a home owners association. Some of them have very strict rules about what you can and can't plant, and what colors you can paint your house, and....

I chose 'other'. The amount of sun a particular location gets is one of the most important - I have shady areas around my patio and blasting sun along the south side of the house. One of my other main considerations is mature size and height of a plant - I have a small garden and proportion is important. I love plants and don't have nearly enough room to grow everything that I would like, so I try to choose the variety or cultivar of the plants I like that make a variety of textures and colors (foliage and/or flowers) that look good growing together and are the right proportion to the size of my beds. I pay attention to bloom time and try to have something blooming all the time, year round (lucky in zone 9 that I can do that). I mix in things for the butterflies and hummingbirds. I select for fragrance. And I have to indulge myself with certain things, like roses, so I also design around them. If you only had room for 6 roses in your mixed border, which ones would you pick? I am still working on that one! I also choose plants for sentimental reasons. Certain plants I have I chose to remind me of my mother or my great aunt, each of whom kept a garden that I loved.

my most important selection is oddity, I love the unusual. Secondary is climate, we have very late springs but a medium long growing season, so its sometimes a challenge to get stuff to come back. my favorites are tropical in appearance, but most come from temperate zones.

I was excited to see about a hundred Gunnera manicata sprouting from my seed trays along with some Kalopanax seedlings I planted last year. As well as the thousands of palm seeds I plant yearly. Oh yeah the veggies are growing nicely too.

Caleb

I chose other reasons.

I like just about anything and everything as far as plants go. I plant for my own pleasure as to what I want to see in my gardens. I do have to be careful as some don't survive our winters but those can always be overwintered.

I've always liked unusual plants- when I was about 5 years old, I ate an Arisaema (Jack-in-the-pulpit). Not recommended as an appetizer!

In my teens my parents went to Arizona and brought home some cactus for me, it didn't take long to kill them- watering through the winter.

Soon afterwards I discovered catalogs and was a lost soul!

With eBay and online nursery sales, I've spent most of my money on plants. Luckily 2 years ago I finally got my greenhouse to keep them in. Unfortunately we are now retired, so I have very little to spend on plants- unless I sell some of my own.

My husband poo-poos my hobby, he prefers to grow only vegetables- things he can eat. Considers every other plant a waste of space. We have very poor soil here (rocky shale and clay) but he works very hard at it. He's had kale, collards, and cilantro all winter. Yesterday he harvested his first radishes and was so excited. Poor guy, I've always hated veggies, even tomatoes! and won't eat any of it.
He sure does seem to like the flowers and fruit that I grow though, maybe someday I'll turn him to the dark side.

My latest favorite plant is a Corokia cotoneaster. No, it's not a cotoneaster, it's a Corokia! It has crooked litle branches that go every which way. The small leaves are awesome, they are green on one side and pure white on the other. The common name is skeleton bush.

I have other rare stuff like AeAe banana, Amorphophallus titanum, Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, and Worsleya procera, but as I get older I don't want the stress of trying to keep the super-rare stuff alive. I suppose I'll always be trying to push the zone, since getting one of my first plants on eBay back in '98 or '99- a Chorisa speciosa, or Silk Floss Tree. It's been in a pot growing in the house all that time, and I just love it! The worlds largest bonsai, LOL!
Here is a photo of it outdoors one summer. In Florida they grow to be enormous trees.

One note, nothing I grow is potentially invasive, as far as I know. Everything is in pots because of our poor soil. Friends are always surprised to see our yard, they expect it to be like a botanical garden due to my love of plants- but all they see is a mish-mash of pots! Maybe someday...

I seem to have a penchant for weird varieties of vegetables. Like the orange cauliflower, purple carrots, red lettuces, black tomatoes, variegated peppers, etc. Probably a reflection of my personal individuality. ☺

My garden here in NJ (6a) is split into two parts.

My veggie garden, I plant following organic guidelines. Naturally, I chose things I like to eat. I pick veggies that will grow well, based on the season and planting time. I try to keep my raised beds and pots full from March to November, with a succession of plantings through the year. So, a typical year for an 8 inch half-height pot may be co-planted radishes and buttercrunch lettuce in the spring, followed by summer basil, followed by autumn radishes. Four crops a season from 2 scoops of soil is not too bad, and they are relatively pest free in the seasons I am growing them. I do plant some flowers, like borage and marigolds, as part of companion planting/pest suppression and to encourage bees.

The rest of my garden is volunteer, and I spend most of my time un-planting the stuff I don’t want, like Boston ivy, English ivy, poison ivy, bittersweet and Asian honeysuckle. (Actually, I love the smell of the honeysuckle, but it is strangling my Rose of Sharon, which incidentally, also volunteered.) I plant wildflower mixes in some areas to suppress weeds, and attract bees and butterflies.

The biggest "pest" in my garden is a 70 foot tall sugar maple the size of a city block. It throws about 1/3 of my property into heavy shade, and seeds about 2000 kids a year in my garden alone. Killing all the baby maples makes me feel bad, so I gather its samara by the by the bucket load, and scatter them through the woods and hills of Northern, NJ. One day there will be a vast maple forest all descended from one tree and scientists will wonder why. Shhhh! Don't tell.

I choose the plants that I do for several reasons.

1) Attracting Wildlife like Hummingbirds, Butterflies and Wintering birds.

2) I love color, and anything that flowers and will survive in my zone (and not known to be invasive) is game.

3) I like being the envy of my neighbors with the colorful show in my front and back yard.

4) to get my 10 year old son outdoors once in awhile, I'll let him choose plants which he likes and we plant and tend them together. an occasional shopping spree ( he has a little budget for plants) to the local Garden center is an activity that gets us out and about and spending time together.