Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?
February 25, 2010 6:52 PM   Subscribe

Where is the best place to buy seeds online? Your favorite shops or retailers appreciated! Amazon has been not too helpful and a bit overwhelming.

I am putting together an herb garden in my backyard this summer. I have the space, sun, and the energy to do this- now I just need the plants!

I will be planting things like lemon balm, sage, french tarragon, lavender, chives, etc. I am looking for a great online resource to buy my seeds from (I am aware buying them from a local store would be best but for my situation I need to buy them online). I really want high quality seeds.

If it's a store that does regions, I am in the Intermountain West, near Salt Lake City.

I would like to receive the seeds in the next couple weeks so I can start germinating them soon.

If anyone has a great recommendation I would appreciate it. General "herb garden construction" advice is also welcome!
posted by timpanogos to Home & Garden (19 answers total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Cook's Garden.
posted by Ery at 6:55 PM on February 25, 2010


Best answer: High Country Gardens specializes in pre-planned gardens for high mountain deserts.
Plants of the Southwest has a larger selection of herbs, and many native plants.
Both of these are really inspiring for a desert gardener!
posted by pickypicky at 7:02 PM on February 25, 2010


Burpee, Territorial, Gurneys, Heirloom...
posted by MsKim at 7:02 PM on February 25, 2010


Seeds of Change is a great resource for organic heirloom seeds.
posted by susanvance at 7:02 PM on February 25, 2010


Best answer: Seed Savers Exchange for the best selection of heirloom varieties.
posted by sulaine at 7:04 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]


Baker Creek has 1400 heirloom varieties.
posted by harmfulray at 7:47 PM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]


Shumway Seeds.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:56 PM on February 25, 2010


Best answer: Johnny's Selected Seeds, employee owned, based in Winslow, ME.
posted by anastasiav at 8:41 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]


Burpee, Seeds of Change, Johnny's, Park Seed, Thompson & Morgan.
posted by jlkr at 9:38 PM on February 25, 2010


Johnny's
posted by pseudonick at 10:22 PM on February 25, 2010


I worked at Johnny's once -- outstanding place.
posted by JanetLand at 3:38 AM on February 26, 2010


You can't go wrong with Johnny's. We just started a bunch of stuff last week and our onions and broccoli are already sprouting.
posted by woodjockey at 4:44 AM on February 26, 2010


Another vote for Seed Savers Exchange. Lots of interesting stuff there, and you're also helping to preserve rare and endangered varieties of produce.
posted by relucent at 5:11 AM on February 26, 2010


I had no idea there were so many good choices for seeds. I've used Victory in the past. As a bonus you can order their old time candy in the same order.
posted by jwells at 5:24 AM on February 26, 2010


I will confess that I have not ordered from Artistic Gardens yet, but I'm about to. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they sell 35-cent mini-packets of seeds, which is great for the home gardener who wants a variety of plants rather than a 30-foot row of carrots.
posted by aimedwander at 5:53 AM on February 26, 2010


Richter's is the mecca of herbs in Canada. It may be too late to buy seeds from across the border this year (due to usually early sowing dates for many herb seeds), however, you may want to get a catalogue for next year. They also sell plugs and plants and ship to the US.

FYI, french tarragon needs to be propagated from cuttings. Any tarragon seeds you get will likely be for Russian tarragon.
posted by KathyK at 6:20 AM on February 26, 2010 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Another vote for Johnny's. Also, if you have a food co-op nearby, check with them. Sometimes they have seeds; we bought some from our co-op, and although there wasn't a lot of variety in what they offered, the seeds were really well priced.

RE: herb garden setup, here's an article on the topic: Use One of These 4 Simple Garden Designs to Grow the 12 Best Kitchen Herbs.
posted by cog_nate at 6:49 AM on February 26, 2010


Johnny's is terrific as are others mentioned above, but don't forget Fedco!
posted by vers at 7:32 AM on February 26, 2010


Response by poster: So many helpful resources! I went ahead and ordered from the Seed Savers exchange and a whole bunch of seeds are headed my way. I will keep Johnny's in mind for veggie seeds when I plan that garden later this month.

Thanks everyone.

Kathy- thanks for the tarragon advice. And cognate thanks so much for the link, I am loving that and the different designs are really fun to think about.
posted by timpanogos at 7:35 AM on February 26, 2010


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