Who do you buy seeds from?

Looking for companies who give you good customer service, fast shipping, low shipping costs...etc. Who do you use?

I buy from Johnny's Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange, primarily. I do have to confess that I don't do a lot of price comparison shopping, largely because not everyplace has the specific varieties I want. What I do is check out Dave's Garden Watchdog http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd for public opinions. I think that site is certainly more crucial if mail-ordering plants than seeds.

I was extremely pleased with customer service from both places, and whether or not you buy from them, Johnny's has fabulous 1-2 minute videos that are really informative on different gardening questions - like preventing late blight and how to prune tomatoes.

I buy a lot from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, MO - rareseeds.com. They also have a store in Petaluma, CA. They have a non-GMO policy.

I also like Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Virginia - southernexposure.com. They also try to stay away from GMO seeds, and they are the only place I've been able to find potato onions. They also put the germination rate of the seeds on the package, which makes it easier to know how many one should plant to get a good stand.

I've had good luck with R.H. Shumway, too. They quickly replaced some herb plants which arrived in poor condition. They are affiliated with Jung Seeds, and Vermont Bean & Seed Company, among others.

I think anyone can get an occasional bad plant or seed packet from any company, or catch a customer service rep having a bad day. I agree with Martha to check out Dave's Garden Watchdog site to see which companies consistently have positive or negative feedback.

For the basics I find that it is easier to just buy them in the store. Cheaper and I get them right a way (significantly cheaper). Others I have bought from Gurney's. I have also purchased from Jung's for flowers, shrubs, etc...

My newest favorite place is the local Amish greenhouses. I get the species (radish/carrot/squash etc) but for the most part the variety is not listed. Since they are grown here in my area, I am confident they will do well and I like the surprise of not knowing exactly what I will get.

For example, this year, I planted radishes expecting to get the cute little globe variety. But, they are long and tubular and very tasty. Not too spicy yet and they are growing very well. Almost too well. I think nearly every seed has come up.

Almost all of mine this year are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com). I ordered on-line. They delivered much faster than I expected. I was expecting a week minimum since I only got the basic shipping, and it showed up in 3 days with a little typed apology for how slow it was, signed in pen by the packer. Plus I got a free pack of seeds I was not expecting.

Very happy with the seeds themselves... love the heirloom varieties and they have a huge selection.

The catalog is almost coffee-table worthy (okay, it is coffee-table worthy in my house!) with lots of beautiful color photographs, and it's very informative as well.

...off to order the Baker Creek catalog and drool over the pictures...

Seems like every hardware store, grocery store, nursery, and drug store I go to. (Why do they sell seeds so many places! I always fall for it.)

Shoda wrote:Seems like every hardware store, grocery store, nursery, and drug store I go to. (Why do they sell seeds so many places! I always fall for it.)

um, well, yeah, me too. I was only fessing up to the planned purchases.

martha wrote:...off to order the Baker Creek catalog and drool over the pictures...

Do it do it do it!! You won't regret.

definitely baker creek be prepared to spend $100+ LOL, you will want too much

I got an awesome deal on fruit trees at jung and overbought more seeds LOL

found some awesome unique flower ones on eBay from a good seller

gurneys so/so but not that great for veggie seeds

basics I buy local since they have ferry morse

Living in the northeast, I buy from nurseries that have cool-weather varieties, mainly Johnnyseeds in Albion Maine and Territorial Seeds in Oregon. I like their varieties and they field test scores of varieties each year.
With the cost of postage, I pay more than over-the-counter local seed packets like Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., but I can get more variety.
This year I'm trying my first purple cauliflower, Violet Queen, and today of my six plants, 2 are already forming heads. You won't find that on the Gurney or Burpee Seed carousel.

I bought from Seed Savers this year. I also looked online for a local place that sold SS seeds and found a nearby nursery. They had a bunch of seeds that were new (this year) and a bunch of clearance ones from last year. Score! I only had to place a small order online b/c I was able to get most of what I wanted at the local place.

Most staple crops I buy in bulk at the feed store. 1/2 oz pak for 40 cents, but not many varieties of each. Heirloom seeds from www.wintersown.org. 10 packs for a $5.00 donation -- all done by members and they have an incredible variety. One order from Seed Saver (over priced in my estimation). And a real bonus of free seeds from www.seedcorps.org. I only got 37 paks but others have gotten up to 100. Of course, I also pick up paks at the hardware store (25 cents on sale), Dollar General, Walmart (a surprising variety including organic), and trading on Homestead or here. In other words, wherever I can find them. I now have an impressive collection and need to quit.

Thanks everyone for the links...

BelfryBat... there's an 'oops' in your link it's www.seedcorps.com not dot org.

Looks to me like they do wonderful work!

Is the only way to contact Seedcorps by that snail mail address at the bottom of the page? Seems strange.

I went to the Seed Corps site, but I can't figure out how to buy seeds from them?