Getting Your Seeds Direct from Catalogs

Whether planting a vegetable or flower garden, many people start with seeds instead of flats of small plants. Seeds can be found in a variety of places, including garden stores, drug stores, and even some grocery stores. However, the seeds available at most retail stores are the popular, conventional varieties. Gardeners who want to grow more unusual plants should consider getting their seeds direct from any of many seed companies.

Buying seeds directly gives the gardener a chance to purchase heirloom vegetable seeds, unusual flowers, or uncommon varieties of common vegetables. Seeds are sold in catalogs and on-line. There are companies that specialize in certain kinds of seeds, such as heirloom vegetables, and others that sell a wide range of seeds.

Some companies make their catalog searchable by zone, so you don’t have to “weed out” the seeds that won’t grow well in your area. Seeds are also sold in combination. For example, it is possible to get seeds for red, yellow, white, and purple carrots as one order.

On-line Seed Shopping

One of the advantages of seed shopping on-line is that seeds often can be viewed in larger pictures than on the package of a conventional seed packet. This will give you a better sense of what the plant will look like when it is mature. You can also communicate with friends and fellow gardeners about what plants you are considering by e-mailing links of different seed catalogue pages.

Choosing your source for direct purchase of seeds presents the same challenges that other Internet shopping does. Start by limiting your searches to the kinds of seeds you are likely to grow, or have grown in the past, so that you have some knowledge of what you are comparing. When you get a sense of what the companies have to offer, you can then start to look for more unusual seeds and expand your reach as a gardener.

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