Annie's Annuals

Bluestone Perennials

Brushwood Nursery

Goodwin Creek Gardens

Joy Creek Nursery

Logee's

Plant Delights Nursery

Select Seeds

Swallowtail Garden

I've also been looking at seeds from some of the bigger places (Burpee's, Thompson and Morgan, etc.). I have a special interest in the following genera: Aster, Campanula, Clematis, Delphinium, Dianthus, Digitalis, Geranium, Lathyrus (sweet peas), Nepeta (catmint), Phlox, Salvia, Sedum, Thymus, Veronica, and Viola (especially sweet violets).

One exciting find was a strain of self-seeding old-fasioned sprawling/climbing Petunias that have fragrant flowers in shades of bluish-lavender, purple and white (see link below). That's not something I'd likely find at a local nursery, and I think the best place to find other obscure gems like this would be the smaller nurseries. Do any of you have more favorite places you wish to share? I figure this would be a good way to promote some of the smaller specialist nurseries to everyone on the forum.

Thanks in advance.

:-)

~Christopher

You can grow stuff from seeds which you will NEVER find in a nursery for reasons of space, and the need to cater to the public, who want to buy known plants from a small selection of bombproof plants. You might well find a nursery which specialises in echinacea or hemerocallis where you can buy some rare plants but going down that route leaves you open to paying huge carriage costs as you search for plants across the US in various specialist nurseries. They will also cost many many more times as much as growing your own. For mere pennies, you can buy packets of seed which seed stockists will have because the space and storage requirements are minimal. That is the argument for sourcing unusual plants - growing from seed.....but there is a far more persuasive reason for doing this - there is nothing, literally nothing like growing a plant from a tiny seed. Yes, you may have ordered a wonderful rose and feel elated that you finally have it in your clutches but this is a fairly short-lived exaltation - it even has a name 'hedonic syndrome' - meaning the pleasure gained from buying or owning something which turns out to be both short-lived and addictive. I strongly suggest you try a few seeds - start with simple perennials which bloom in the first year of sowing - gaillardia for example or, as someone else suggested, digitalis.
You will be going down a road which is twisty, turny, has pitfalls and obstacles but the pay-off is a massive feeling of triumph and a real and lasting connection to the whole experience of gardening, life and nurture. Not bad for a 2dollar packet of seeds, hey?
I have literally bought a forest for less than 20dollars (although it is still in packets in my fridge)....and I have 5 black pines already showing their spikey leaves. How completely fabulous.

I figured on using Annie's Annuals only for something they have which I REALLY want, but is offered nowhere else, and ONLY because the shipping would be so much. It's unfortunate, because they get great reviews and have a wonderful plant selection, but they ARE on the other side of the country.

Thanks also for Geraniaceae.com. I happened upon that site once while looking up information on scented pelargoniums but didn't bookmark the site. I've got it this time.

I haven't tried winter-sowing. The times I've grown things from seed have all been in Spring and in trays -- because I often wasn't sure exactly where I'd want to plant things until I had the plants in pots to move around a few times. Also, I like the idea of putting a plant in the ground rather than scattering seed and wondering if what I see is a weed or not the first time around. Anything that self-seeds for the following year tends to do better in the garden than anything I tried sowing directly myself. If only a handful of seedlings make it from the trays, that's all I'll need to keep things going.

:-)

~Christopher

:-)

~Christopher

But I look for them in the local feed store rather than mail order

I also look at the local nursery for things like salvia and lavenders. They stock a big variety different from the box store like HD

If you want to add any unusual structural plants, (i.e. trees), Forest Farm is a superb mail order nursery with an outstanding collection.

And of course for seed:
Park's Seed Co.
Thompson and Morgan

Cath

I frequent a nursery down the street run by an elderly Japanese lady who does her own propagation of shrubs, perennials and trees. Strictly a local nursery, but she has some treasures that I've gotten. I love the small nurseries run by someone who loves plants and knows about propagation. I think I'm saying the same thing Kippy did about finding local places too.

B&D lilies.

I've admired the stock in Old House Gardens but haven't ordered from them. Colorblends is the bulb vendor I usually use and have found the bulbs to be very healthy with good customer service.

I agree about Santa Rosa having great plants; a couple of years ago I was looking for goldcrest foxglove and they not only were one of the few to carry it but it was a remarkably fair price for the plants and shipping.

Swallowtail Seeds and Select Seeds are both good vendors, I've found. I do wintersow and enjoy it a lot.

Plants are an addiction, aren't they??? I'm enjoying reading everyone's plant and seed sources. Gean

Gardenweb has a really active winter sowing forum for more info. I don't have a greenhouse, and this lets me start gardening even when it's too cold and rainy outside to do anything else. Up here, heat loving plants like tomatoes need lights but a lot of perennials and annuals do well germinated this way. I edge my beds with sweet alyssum and germinated in February or so they are ready to be planted in early spring. It is a lot of fun! Gean

Melissa

Swallowtail is my primary seed source (I start hundreds of seeds every winter and spring in trays. I also like direct sowing in the fall.) I love Swallowtail and have always had good results with their seeds. I also like to order from Renee's Seeds (the Angel's Choir shirley poppy mix is very charming). And am trying a new vendor called Outside Pride because they seem to be more generous with the amount of seed they send and have some unique offerings I haven't seen elsewhere.

Van Engelen is the wholesale side of John Scheepers and that is where I go for bulbs. They offer a small selection of peonies as well.

C&T Iris Patch for iris.

I'm trying a couple of new plant vendors this spring. Digging Dog is the one I remember off-hand. They have an interesting selection of plants. I was drawn in by the geranium, campanula, and monkshood.

Swapping on GW's exchange pages--some fine plants shipped cheap & a wonderful source if you can meet up with someone in a similar climate zone. Also local swap listings. I went to my first one & came home with the most amazing things.

J. L. Hudson for seeds--worth ordering the catalog just for the exhaustive descriptions.

Wildseed--very, very fresh, high-germination on seeds that can be slow. Their flower fields are a sight to see if you're ever in cent. TX in spring. Acres & acres of blazing color.

:-)

~Christopher

Alas, Thompson and Morgan in the USA is no longer a division of the fine old British company. The American division was sold a few years ago so some corporate entity, with the usual decline in quality and more than usual decline in service which tends to follow on such deals.

Landreth Seeds, for interesting Zinnias and bulbs.

:-)

~Christopher

I concur on Landreth. They have a booth at the NJ Flower and Garden Show every year, and it is the only place that I buy seeds.

I mostly lurk around here, but I thought I would throw in a plug for my favorite nurseries that haven't already been been mentioned:

Digging Dog Nursery in Albion, CA
Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville, CA

Happy shopping!

Lazy S'S Farm Nursery (http://www.lazyssfarm.com/) - Rare & New plus Tried & True Perennials, Shrubs and Trees

Brushwood Nursery (http://www.gardenvines.com/shop/) for vines and climbers

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (http://www.southernexposure.com/) - Their selection of flower seeds is not very large, but they do carry the old fashioned vining petunias and a couple of unusual marigolds and cosmos that I like.

Rosy Dawn Gardens (http://www.rosydawngardens.com/default.aspx) for coleus plants. The duckfoot varieties India Frills and Inky Fingers are two of my favorites.

Cath