Seymour's Selected Seeds

After requesting and receiving a catalog from Seymour's, I decided to order seeds from them. I did this before checking with Garden Watchdog and immediately regretted not looking here first, but it was too late. The same day and time I ordered from Seymour's, I ordered from Burpee too. The Burpee seeds came pretty quickly and I got nervous about my Seymour's order since I hadn't heard from them yet. I never received the e-mail I thought I would get but did have the page I printed out with the confirmation page so I waited some more. Finally, I called the company to see what they could tell me and was quite happy with the phone call. The representative was friendly and helpful and told me my order had shipped via U.S. mail on the 14th and I should expect them any time. Overall, I guess it took about ten days to get my order. I got the seeds today with no problems. I can't speak to the germination of the seeds issue but do have to say I am not unhappy with this transaction, so far. If this changes after planting the seeds, I will be back to make note of that. I guess I just got overly anxious about the reviews and when I didn't get an e-mail about my order, I worried. To this point, it wasn't necessary.

I ordered from Seymours for few years and was always happy with the quality and germination rate. Not a problem, ever. Many of their seeds in fact stayed viable for few years. Their seeds are not the cheapest, but next to TM they look reasonable. I only wish they had more varieties and add more new stuff each year. I am really surprised that so many people here give them a bad rating - this certainly wasn't my experience...

After receiving their catalog, I ordered one of their unique Animal Planters (a cat and a dog) for a gift for Christmas. The order was placed online and all seemed to go smoothly, with a confirmation email sent that same day and my card charged. Three weeks later and no planter, so I called only to learn it was on back-order until February. The lady told me that had I ordered over the phone, they would have told me, but with since I ordered online, they couldn't automatically tell me. She seemed angry that I ordered online, as if it was my fault that I didn't know it was back-ordered. I promptly cancelled my order order and informed her that I would not be ordering from them again. I now await the refund on my credit card.

I am sorry the phone operator was rude to you. Your credit card was refunded last night.
Thank you for pointing out a glaring omission in our new websites. We had a meeting about it this morning and will be doing what we can to show items on backorder in the website. I am sorry this "fix" comes to late for you and anyone else that has been affected.

Ruth

I have ordered seeds form this company for the past three years. Seeds have arrived in a timely fashion and my germination rates have been excellent! I even had 100% germination on 2 year old " left overs" I found in the back of my potting cupboard. The variety is excellent, and my sucess rate with some very difficult plants was better than 90%.

I placed seed order on February 15th along with many other orders to other seed companies including Seymour Seeds and Vermont Bean Seed Co which are related to Jung. I had not had problems in the past with Jung. In early March, I rec'd my credit card statement and was billed for the items but the items had not arrived. Meanwhile, all of my other seed orders came in about 7 days of ordering. I emailed Vermont Bean Seed Co on 3/3 and no one responded. I sent a second email on 3/5 and was told they had shipped weeks earlier. They said if I didn't receive by 3/9 to email and they would express mail replacement. I emailed on 3/12 and got no response. I emailed on the 13th & 14th and received no response. What horrible service. I am so angry that I have missed the deadline to plant many of the seeds ordered. To make it worse, I ordered product from two different web sites Vermont Bean Co and Seymour Seed Co and neither of the seeds have come. I will never again use this company for seeds or materials. It is frustrating to deal with customer service who obviously are understaffed and lack training. It is more frustrating that this company bills before they ship. ALL of the other items I ordered from various companies Pinetree, Select Seeds, etc.. -- over 70 packets of seeds -- were billed upon shipment - not upon order. So now, since they are not communicating anymore I will have to contact my credit card company to refute the charges. If you are a serious gardener please buy from this company at your own risk! They get an A+ for the catalog but a complete F for service and customer support.

this is the perfect opportunity to remind everyone that with internet ordering please watch the auto fill cities. If your zip code has more than one city listed in the directory please check that you have not just entered through the field but that you picked the correct city for us to ship your order to.

First off, I'll say I'm giving a neutral because the order was made several years ago, before I felt comfortable asking for a replacement/refund. They may have made it right; I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Some plants were way over exaggerated in their beauty; "Captivating, astonishing to behold and rarely seen!" translates to "It will fill a space until you find something better." There were two different Sweet Peas listed as scented perennials. I had my doubts because I had never heard of the two attributes going together. There were only 15 seeds in each packet; one had a 0% germination rate, and the other didn't turn out to be perennial. The germination rates in general were low.

seymour is a rip off. Three years now (I've tried to grow various items with very poor germination. They don't refund money like the other companies, just give credit towards future orders Never again fred from Grand Rapids MI

I've ordered from Seymour's for the past three years. They don't have a large variety of seeds, but they do have some unusual ones. Germination rate has been average. Shipping was quick and inexpensive. I will continue to order from Seymour's in the future.

Although I can't comment on the germination rates of their seeds (yet), my experience with their shipping time has been great. I ordered several packages of seeds via snail-mail and paid with a check and still got my complete order in 7 days.

I ordered 4 types of seed from Seymour's because they had everything I needed. All arrived quickly in one shipment. However, my negative comment stems from the fact that only 2 of the 4 had any planting instructions. I can find this info, but it should have been printed on the packets. There's plenty of room - the backside was blank. It would also help if they printed on their packets the year the seed was packaged for.

I hate to give a company a negative rating, but I was not impressed with my first order from this company. I ordered four packages of seed. It took three shipments to receive them. Two of the packages failed to grow at all. One was a veronica. I have not tried to grow this particular variety before, but have had easy success growing other varieties in the past. The feverfew that I ordered did not grow either. The petunias and the penstemon that I ordered did grow very well though. I don't think the failure to grow was my fault since everything else that I started this spring (from other companies) germinated just fine. I waited much longer than the maximum number of days to see if they would germinate.

I ordered seeds from this company just once, 3 years ago. The descriptions in their catalog were poor (no mention of height, etc on unfamiliar plants), and the seed germination rates were the worst I've ever seen. The planting instructions on the seed packets were also very vague, and in some cases, contrasted completely with the instructions I had from other companies or books. And only some of their seeds were true to their description. The white vinca turned out to be pink and of the wrong form (extremely upright rather than spreading). When I complained, they just replaced the vinca seeds without any explanation - I never grew them, not knowing whether I would just be wasting soil and pots on more pink plants. The Apple Blossom hollyhocks turned out to be nothing of the sort, but a fully double, of a very different shade of pink. And the Kitaibelia (spelling?), described as a very attractive, wonderful plant in their catalog, (they pictured a single blossom rather than the whole plant, and I fell for it) was a very unattractive, 3 foot tall plant with unshowy blossoms, that strongly resembled a weed. Their catalog is pretty, but I'd never buy anything from them agai

Seymour's seeds seduces you with interesting unusual flowers. No cultivation information (snare for the new or unwary) or germination rates. I fell for it 3 times in the last 5 years. TEENY seed counts are routinely undercounted - they tell you there will only be 7 then there's only 3-4 seeds. Pelleted Eustoma seeds arrived so crushed that even the SEED was broken. Germination rates were abysmal for all seeds but the Harlequin marigold (which I'm still looking for a new source for - Pine Tree Seed and Fedco have responded by telling me that it failed to meet their performance standards). I blamed myself ...but the last time, I simultaneously ordered from a couple of companies to see whether seed source would make a difference...it did.

A mixed bag experience. Just one of those places that sorta makes the hair on ur neck stand out, if u know what I mean. Orders have varied from prompt to dismal. quality is ditto. I see they are not doing business this year, hmmmm! With more than several experiences I rate them anywhere from a 3 to about a 7+ on a 1-10 scale. (u pick)

I ordered seeds under Seymour Seeds & Totally Tomatoes.(Both UK Based franchise from same address) The order took over 8 weeks to arrive. Three types of seeds were missing although they had charged my VISA account. I have tried contacting them via phone and web to no avail. I will not use this company again

I ordered several packets of seeds and it took about a month to get them. One variety was backordered and not until I read this site did I remember that I haven't received them. The seeds I did get had almost 0 germination rate. I won't be ordering from them again.

I ordered seeds via their website on 14 july. although i received a confirmation of my order, and they deducted the cost from my bank account via my visa delta, it is now 6 august and, despite me sending them numerous emails enquiring when i would receive my order, i have still not received my order ... and ... although they read my emails (i sent a read receipt with each email), they didn't even bother to respond. i am now £19.11 worse off, with no seeds! i also contacted them again via their website "comments" section and they still didn't respond!

I ordered from this company several times. All or part of the order is always back ordered. The plants listed in the catalog aren't always the ones you get. They sold datura as brugmansia and even had a brugmansia pictured. The germination was so-so. They don't have a phone number so you can call and check on the order. They do have a web page now and I've ordered from it. The service was faster ordering in this way.

I liked the seeds from this company. Germination was good. I thought they were slow in delivery of seeds.

I have ordered several times from Seymour’s and have been happy with their seeds for the most part. The catalog has wonderful pictures but could use a little more effort with the plant descriptions – especially with hardiness zones. I think their seeds are a little on the expensive side but germination has been good & quantity is better than some companies. On one occasion the packet of seeds I got turned out not to be what I ordered. A bit frustrating but I never did complain. I believe the parent company is located in England but they have a seed house in Virginia for USA customers.

Regarding mimulus "Andean Nymph": Actually, I've ordered this selection from Seymour's and had good experience with viability. My plants were also true to name, but in light of Jane Hendrix's and her friend's problems, it probably would be better to order from another company. DO try this plant…

I ordered from this company a few years ago because they seemed to have a similar type of selection as Thompson and Morgan, a company I like, but Seymour's was less expensive. Well, you get what you pay for. I ordered perennial seed and there's nothing quite as frustrating as waiting 2 years to find out that 'Splish Splash' Geranium , grown specifically for its striation is nothing more than a plain lavender of unknown origin. Never again.

After looking through tons of catalogs over the winter, I order from Seymour's because I think they have the best selection of seeds from one catalog. I agree that the labeling is not for a novice seed starter, and you really need to do some research on sun and zone requirements as this information is not provided for all plants in the catalog. Germination has been good for all my seeds except for some of the tiniest like purple-wave petunias and begonias -- but maybe some things are better bought as plants.

My one experience with Seymour's was disappointing. Germination was extremely poor, and what I did get was not true to form. Last January (1999), I ordered one packet each of Cyclamen, Coleus, and Datura "Evening Fragrance." None of the Cyclamen seeds germinated. Of the Coleus, I eventually planted the entire packet of 40-50 seeds, but only 3 germinated, and those seedlings were weak and sickly, and only one survived. It eventually became a robust plant, but sheesh! A 2 percent germination and survival rate is pretty bad. Of the Datura, I planted 8 seeds, only one of which germinated. I am not exactly a novice seed grower, and all were planted in seed starters, and babied along. In fact, when it was apparent that the Coleus seeds were duds, I planted some leftover year-old seed, and they sprouted and grew like weeds. To give the company some benefit of the doubt, I should point out that the seeds were mailed in January, so perhaps they froze along the way. But then, a reputable plant company should have a good idea as to when to mail its products so they don't get killed along the way. As for true to form: The supposed "Evening Fragrance" did not match the description orpicture. Instead of a large, 8-inch cone-shaped flower tinged with purple, the flower was pure white, trumpet-shaped, with a long, thin tube and a spreading part no wider across than an average petunia. The fragrance was nice, but faint. The catalog is nice as a color picture reference, but I will order from other companies.

I've ordered from Seymour's once or twice a couple of years ago. I just received their latest catalog. Very pretty and I'm tempted to place another order for one of their more unusual offerings. But I vowed never again. My experience has been similar to others as far as generic germination directions are concerned. However, this alone wouldn't bother me as specific info is available on line as well as incountless library books. What REALLY bugs me is spending time and money germinating a specific variety only to end up with something totallydifferent. Case in point: ordered seeds of Mimulus 'Andean Nymph'. Result: 2 or 3 plants that produced the pictured flowers; the rest were common Mimulus, pretty but not worth the premium price I paid for 'Andean Nymph'. Case 2: sowed seeds of the perennial (for me in my climate) Iceland Poppy 'Oregon Rainbows'. Result: one Iceland Poppy plant of undetermined variety, 2 plants that resembled the annual peony-flowered poppy which I would have NEVER ordered because our mountainous climate doesn't provide a long enough season for this species, and that's all! Case 3: sowed seeds of Aquilegia 'Irish Elegance' (a white columbine). Result: one viable seedling! I'm not a novice when it comes to germinating plants from seed. I've already racked up over 100,000 successful seedlings of about 500 species. Columbine are almost always simple.My friend had the same experience with Mimulus 'Andean Nymph' as I did. Additionally, she had the WORST time trying to get a catalog fromSeymour's. She finally ordered from mine and never did get a catalog from the company even after placing her order! She reported the problem to Seymour's but got no response and no satisfaction. Not the kind of place you want to place a sizable order with.My advice is use Seymour's catalog as a colored-picture reference and order from [elsewhere]…

I just ordered for the first time from Seymour's - don't know yet how well the seeds will germinate, but the packet directions leave a lot to be desired. Most of their annuals seem to have the same set of generic directions, whichcould cause some problems if you've never grown those grown those particular seeds. Eustoma (Lisianthus) is very slow to germinate and grow and needs several months to get to transplant size, but the label merely says to start in early Spring, as it does for every half-hardy annual. All other packets of snapdragons I'vebought tell me not to cover the seeds and that they germinate best at 55 F (which has always been successful for me), but Seymour's again has just generic directions about starting at 70-75 and barely covering the seed. Their seeds will probably turn out to be fine, but I would definitely get clear germination instructions from somewhere else before trying to grow them.I'd also suggest ordering early from this company - I ordered seeds from them a week before I sent orders to Parks, Jungs and Pinetree Garden Seeds, and got my order at least a week after my orders from the other 3 companies.[update]Just a few more comments on Seymour's, after starting a bunch of seeds from them. Germination was fine and everything grew well. Was rather surprised to discover that the Mediterranean white vinca seeds turned out to be something else - definitely pink and showing no signs of cascading or spreading yet - they're vinca, but I have no idea what they are. (Everything else was as pictured and doing nicely). I was also a little disappointed with how they deal with back orders. It's now mid-May and I've seen no sign of the nasturtium seeds that were back ordered, or heard anything from the company about when/whether they ever plan to send them or refund my money. I'll probably be tempted into ordering seeds from them again, since their catalog carries a lot of things you can't necessarily find anywhere else and I was pleased with most of the seeds - but I plan to be a little cautious about relying on them.

These companies are all the same company. Seymour's, which is mostly flower seeds; Totally Tomatoes, which also has many peppers as well; and Schumways. Seymours is a small catalogue full of nice pictures of flowers. It's kind of messy-looking, but yet, has a lot of varieties that you can't get anywhere else. Is supposedly dedicated to the traditional "English" garden. Their prices are a little high, but their delivery is better than Schumway's.