question....

Whats wrong with the seeds thats not marked Heirloom?

There is nothing wrong with them. Generally they are hybrids. Meaning you can not save your seeds to use next year. I plant both heirlooms and hybrids.

you mean the seeds from this year...wont germanate? I have never saved my plants seeds for the next year......(I cant help passing by the seed department without buying more...) Ruth

What a great question.
Let's look at what an heirloom plant is. Before the industrialization of agriculture, a much wider variety of plant foods was grown for human consumption. In modern agriculture, most food crops are now grown in large, monoculture plots. In order to maximize consistency, few varieties of each type of crop are grown. These varieties are often selected for their productivity, their ability to withstand mechanical picking and cross-country shipping, and their tolerance to drought, frost, or pesticides. Taste is the last thing the business of agiculture is conserned about. Heirloom gardening is a reaction against this trend. Heirloom growers have different motivations. Some people grow heirlooms for historical interest, while others want to increase the available gene pool for a particular plant for future generations. Some select heirloom plants due to an interest in traditional organic gardening. Many simply want to taste the different varieties of vegetables, or see whether they can grow a rare variety of plant.
That being said there are lots of cool modern plants that have been selectively cross bred and are generaly more resistant to disease. I use both in my garden. What I will not plant is GMO (genetically modified organisms) seed, the Franken-food seeds produced by Monsanto and others. IMHO they are an abomation.
Hybrids (crosses) may not reprodunce true from last years seeds. If you like trying new seeds every year it should not be a consern.

Very eloquent Shannon1

you mean the seeds from this year...wont germanate? I have never saved my plants seeds for the next year......(I cant help passing by the seed department without buying more...) Ruth

Ruth, they will often germinate, but there is no guarantee they will produce he same variety in sucessive generations, because the variety/trait isn't fixed (hasn't produced the same type of offspring for 5-8 sucessive genertions).

Tnx for the input....Ruth