- Sheffield's Seed Company ( sheffields.com ) is the leader in tree and shrub seeds. They have a very good Garden Watchdog rating, and I've always had fairly good results from orders I've made through them.

Other potential sources include:
- F. W. Schumacher ( www.treeshrubseeds.com ) with a very good G. WD. rating,
- Sparkleberry Springs ( www.sparkleberrysprings.com ) with a limited but excellent G. WD. rating,
- TreeSeeds.com ( www.treeseeds.com ) with a limited but excellent G. WD. rating,
- Angelgrove Tree Seed Co. ( www.trees-seeds.com ) with an excellent G. WD. rating, and
- Lawyer Nursery ( www.lawyernursery.com ) with a so-so G.WD. rating.

Treeseeds.com seems suddenly out of business. My last order didn't show up. I tried emailing, calling. The number was disconnected. Checked Dave's Garden. I am not the only one. But, the site still seems to be up and taking orders last I checked.

Edit: Sheffield's and F. W. Schumacher are my go-to seed sellers. I was hoping to find more here. Tree-seeds.com wont load in my browser. Sparkleberry gives me a 404 error.

arg42; I am going through the same issues treeseeds.com took my money and has not sent my seeds. It has been 2 weeks, and when I called the number on their site, I get a message that the number is not a working number! Already send info to the federal trade commission, next is consumer protection, and BBB.

If you're in Europe then OMC Seeds, and Plant World Seeds are good, too. As a US citizen, it's hit or miss when you order overseas: most of the time, the seeds will arrive without incident; every so often, you will get a letter indicating that your seeds were seized by customs.

Treeseeds.com would not respond to any of my 4 emails, 2 voicemails, even filling out the contact us page in order to change my shipping option. I finlly had enough and emailed through paypal asking to canel and refund. I filed a dispute with PayPal and then all of a sudden he cteated a label with tracking about 20 mins after disputing.

How coincidental......

I responded back through paypal thsatI didn't want his produxt anymore since it was 13 days since order placed. I emailed twice stating as such and no response. Working with paypal was also a joke. They denied me stating he sent a tracking. This seller is completely shady and not reputable. I have initiated a chargeback on my card. Hopefully this will finally be resolved.

As a side note I ordered from sheffields seeds after this debacle and it was great. The seed looks great and was very well packaged.

Can anyone tell of some reputable seed sellers for various varieties of Maple Trees seeds ? Thank you !

Hello

We are a big company in Iran

We export various trees as seedlings all over the world

We will send you any trees and plants you ask us for

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Do not trust treeseeds.com sc a mmer drug addict check BBB

It has become increasingly difficult to buy seeds abroad as both the USA and the EU have tightened rules and control is more intensive. Without a phytosanitary certificate customs can seize your seeds and destroy them. Many seed companies do not want the hassle of acquiring a phytosanitary certificate and do not send seeds outside the USA or the EU.

I do not trust the sellers on Ebay because many sell seeds not true to name or sell old seeds that won 't germinate in a million years. Some seeds need cold AND moist storage otherwise these loose viability really quick (magnolia seeds for example). Many companies do not store these seeds the right way and the consequence is that the germination percentage is very low (or zero).

My 20 year experience is that many seed sellers have a limited knowledge of the seeds they sell. Take for example Acer griseum. If seeds are harvested from a stand alone specimen the chance is very great that the majority of the seeds are empty. Seeds of Acer griseum should be harvested from a number of trees that are in close proximity to each other.

A 'cut test' to determine viability percentage is not always useful. Some species have seeds with embryo defects (Lindera, Sassafras) and although looking alright won't germinate.

My best germination results I always get with seeds that I harvested myself and sow within a week after harvesting.