My Favorite Gardening Seeds
Early on in my gardening career, my favorite gardening seeds were limited to the ones I could find at the local hardware store, big chain home stores like Home Depot or Lowes and my local nursery.
The more I got into gardening, the more I realized there was an entire new world out there of seeds to pick from.
And the seed catalogues started coming.
It could be what you call a mild addiction, bordering on …well, serious problem. HA!
Here are a few of my favorite gardening seeds and the companies a that they come from them!
Disclaimer: I am not getting paid or any benefit from these suggestions. I just love em!
A few of my favorite seeds from Botanical Interests
PROS: Botanical Interests is, hands-down, my favorite seed company. I’ve had a very high, if not perfect rate of almost every seed germinating that I’ve ever used. Almost every seed I’ve planted by Botanical Interests has germinated. They are also readily available at my local nursery, so – no shipping fees! I also love their charming watercolor seed packets that are packed with information on them!
CONS: There aren’t many. Of late, however, they have been sold out of fairly common seeds that my nursery has been unable to get like Poblano Pepper seeds etc.
Queeny Lime Orange Zinnia Seeds
These zinnias are just stunning! They are the most lovely shade of peach and orange with yellow and lime green petals closer to the center. Just GORGEOUS!
San Marzano Roma Pole Tomato Seeds
Great for sauces and canning, this paste tomato has always been healthy and abundant since I’ve been planting it!
We grow tomatoes vertically (see my tutorial here), and these are indeterminate (vining) so they work great!
Buttercrunch Butterhead Lettuce Seeds
My raised beds look like Peter Rabbit’s garden with these soft buttery heads of lettuce interspaced throughout a bed.
You can just pick the outer leaves on the head when they are 2-3 inches long and they will just keep growing new ones!
Here is my tutorial on growing lettuce. Click here.
French Breakfast Radish Seeds
Anyone can grow these! And of all the radishes, they are consistently perfect and taste great and they are beautiful! Here is my tutorial on growing radishes. Click here.
Each packet contains several kinds of kale all in one packet including ‘Dwarf Blue Curled’, ‘Dwarf Siberian Improved’, ‘Nero Toscana’ Lacinato, and ‘Red Russian’! This grew well into fall and winter for me here.
A few of my favorite seeds from Baker Creek. a.k.a. Rare Seeds
PROS: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is a very close 2nd, if not tied for 1st with Botanical for me. I could spend HOURS perusing their eclectic and uniquely “rare” seed catalogue from all over the world. Guys, there are some crazy vegetables in those pages!
When I started growing peppers, I was in awe and wonder of their collection of beautiful peppers!
Also, Baker Creek charges you for shipping only once per year and after that initial order, shipping is free! This is very useful for a horrible seed ordering addict like myself.
CONS: I’m still thinking but I am not coming up with anything.
Here are a few of my favs…
Chinese 5 Color Hot PepperChinese 5 Color Hot Pepper
The beautiful hot peppers change from purple to yellow to orange to red so the plant is covered in a spectrum of all the colors, all at once. I grow these to make salsa (way better flavor than jalapenos!) and they make the most AMAZING pepper flakes you’ll ever have!
We are crazy for these 3-inch wrinkled peppers originating from Japan. You may have had them at sushi restaurants and ordered them from the appetizer menu. Here’s what we do with them (click here). They are also delicious grilled in with other grilled vegetable as they impart their wondrous flavor on the vegetables. They aren’t really hot, although some say 1/10 is. I also started using them in my basil pesto for an added kick (Click here).
Golden Runner Bean, Sunshine Golden
If you want sunshine on a trellis, plant these! The leaves are the brightest green and the flowers are almost a fluorescent orange. I love them!
We make a dish called Thai Chicken Basil Stir Fry (click here for recipe) and it calls specifically for this form of Thai basil, which has a more distinctive and less sweet taste than normal Thai basil. It’s difficult to find these plants or seeds in America! Also, Thai basil plants, in general are the BEST pollinating plants. After they flower (which is ok, unlike regular basil) the bees are all over them in my garden so I usually plant these in between my tomato plants.
Long Bean, Chinese Green Noodle
These are a heat tolerant green bean that grow well here. They taste wonderful and you just cut them into pieces and they’re just like a regular green bean!
Just like Botanical, I could go on and on with seeds I love from Baker Creek!
A few of my favorite seeds from Park Seed
PROS: I love several items from Park Seed They are my go-to for fancier zinnia breeds and a few kinds of tomatoes and lettuces. I love browsing their seed catalogue in the winter too!
CONS: There are heavy shipping prices each time you order and I really do not like their seed packets in the gold foil. They have little info on them on how to plant, are hard to read.
Mini Romaine Blend lettuce Seeds
These are the most beautiful small compact heads of lettuce! The stem end is bright green and crunchy and softens into a lovely purple towards the end of the leaves. They are just gorgeous!
Park’s Whopper CR Improved Hybrid Tomato Seeds
These large-sized tomatoes are very disease and crack resistant, they are nice and meaty, and the flavor is really, REALLY good!
Instead of buying several different kinds of fancy zinnias, the Funfair Mix has some really gorgeous zinnias all thrown together in one seed packet including one of my ALL-time favorites gardening seeds, Zowie Yellow Flame.
A few of my favorite seeds from Renee’s Garden
PRO’S: Renee’s Garden seeds are another beautiful bunch of watercolor seed packets to look at as well as having great growing descriptions on the back of the packet and even cooking ideas! They offer only non-GMO varieties and also offer organic seeds.
CON’S – the price on these seeds is always a little steeper than the others I buy but other than that, I can’t think of much!
Pole Filet Beans – French Gold
Both of these “haricort vert” style French pole beans are my absolute favorite beans I’ve ever grown. They are tender and sweet and snappy with no strings and we love them!
Persian Baby Cucumbers “Green Fingers”
I am obsessed with the thin-skinned, tiny or no-seeded Persian cucumbers that come in a clear bag at the grocery store and these are just like that! These are also powdery mildew resistant!
Heirloom Salad Onions “Italian Scallion”
With their lovely burgundy bottoms, these are delicious and pretty on salads, to finish stir-fries etc. We plant them down each edge of our raised beds as a border and harvest them all season.
Heritage Chili “Numex Joe Parker”
This New Mexico meaty chili grows up to 6-7 inches long and has a gentle heat and wonderful flavor to enhance any dish.
Heirloom tomato “Black Cherry”
The king of sweet complex cherry tomato flavor, these are always a favorite in the garden.
Honorable Mention Seed Sites
There are various other seed sites I love like Victory Seeds, Johnnies Seeds and Seeds N Such.
Unfortunately, that would take a whole other blog post and this one is getting too long!
Thanks for letting me share a few of my favorite gardening seeds with you and where I get them.
What are your favorite places to order seeds? Please tell me in the comments below. I can always feed my addiction!
