Gardening Catalogs/Seed Companies

See also: Nurseries.

According to the Men's Garden Club of Pittsburgh, the average last hard frost for Pittsburgh is April 20 and for outlying communities, April 30. Most of Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties is in Zone 6a of the USDA Hardiness Map, Northeastern Allegheny County, the southern two-thirds of Butler County and Westmoreland County are listed as Zone 5b.

Search Garden Catalogs

This is "Mother Earth News Seed and Plant Finder", a Google Custom Search Engine that searches 620 sites. Use it to find the seed of a specific plant or browse the catalogs of the Specialized Seed Companies below.

United States - Directories

• All America Selections
  The official website for the AAS. All-America Selections is a non-profit organization for evaluating new seed-grown flowers and vegetables from around the world for home garden performance. Their winners are plants that adapt well to all situations. Penn State at State College runs a test garden.
• Organic Seed Suppliers Search
  Links to seed suppliers from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA: Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas)
• Cyndi Johnson's Gardening Catalogs
  The home gardener's one stop to find all the mail-order gardening catalogs in the US and Canada - over 2000 of them!
• Dave's Garden Watchdog
  The Garden Watchdog is a free directory of 6,681 mail order gardening companies.
• eSeeds.com
  Choose your variety (more than 10,000 available), then choose your favourite brand from over 50 well-known seed companies, exclusive boutique nurseries and botanical/research gardens from around the world.
• Seeds of Diversity Canada
  a non-profit group of gardeners from coast to coast who save seeds from rare and unusual garden plants for the purpose of preserving the varieties.
• Seed Savers Exchange
  Seed Savers Exchangeis a non-profit, member-supported organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations.

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Major Seed Companies

• Burpee
  A wide selection of standard vegetable and flower seeds, perennials, fruit trees, herbs available for ordering online from this major seed supplier.
• Gurney's Seed and Nursery Company
  Indiana. Offers trees, shrubs, fruit trees and berries, vegetable and flower seeds, groundcovers, etc.
• Harris Seeds
  Extensive offering of vegetable and flower seeds for both the home and professional gardener from Rochester, NY.
• Park Seed
  The major seed supplier from South Carolina. Flower and Vegetable seeds, plants and bulbs. Online catalog and ordering.
• Stokes Seeds
  Stokes, in Buffalo, NY and Ontario, Canada, offers the highest quality seeds and accessories for both home gardeners and commercial growers. Choose from their extensive listing of vegetables, annuals, perennials, pot plants and herbs. Browse or search and order online. Includes detailed growing instructions.
• Thompson & Morgan
  Thompson & Morgan is a British company but you can also buy their seeds in the United States

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Specialized Seed Companies

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
  This is the place to go if you want unusual varieties of vegetable seeds. If you haven't been able to find a vegetable seed elsewhere, look here. They have a beautiful print catalog.
• Botanical Interests
  Based in Colorado, this seed company with the beautiful botanical illustrations on their seed packets, offers flower, herb, and vegetable seeds. You can browse their flowers by color, by whether it attracts birds or butterflies, etc. They also provide sheets on when to start vegetables indoors and when to start flowers indoors, based on the date of the average last spring frost.
• The Cook's Garden
  Based in Warminster, Pennsylvania, this company offers seeds and supplies for the American kitchen garden, featuring heirloom tomatoes and peppers, mesclun selections, and other vegetable, flower and herb seeds.
• Fedco Seeds
  A source for cold-hardy selections especially adapted to their demanding Northeast climate (they are located in Maine). Check out their Moose Tubers (potatoes and onions).
• John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds
  Offering the finest gourmet vegetables, aromatic herbs and beautiful flowers seeds from around the world in your family's garden. Catalog free upon request.
• Johnny's Selected Seeds
  A Maine company offering wide selection of quality vegetable, flower, and culinary, medicinal and aromatic herb seeds as well as an assortment of gardening tools, garden supplies, and home garden accessories.
• NESeed - New England Seed Company
  A Hartford, Connecticut company that offers Italian gourmet seeds and certified organic seed as well as standard vegetable, flower and herb seeds.
• Nichols Garden Nursery
  An Oregon company that has been supplying seeds and plants by mail for over 50 years, the Nichols family seeks out choice and unusual garden varieties. Look here for hard to find vegetables and herbs.
• Irish Eyes - Garden City Seeds
  More potatoes to order from than you knew existed! All sizes and colors. Also garlic, shallots and onions.
• Native American Seed
  A Texas producer of environmental restoration products, growing and harvesting seed from native plants, wildflowers and prairie grasses.
• Reimer Seeds
  This North Carolina company offers over 3,900 quality vegetable seeds, herb seeds, and flower seeds for the home garden and market growers.
• Renee's Garden
  Renee Shepherd of Felton, California, offers seeds of heirloom and cottage garden flowers, aromatic herbs, and gourmet vegetables from around the world. Each plant is illustrated with beautiful drawings.
• Rohrer Seeds
  If you are ever in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, stop by and browse through their racks of seeds.
• Seeds of Change
  A Santa Fé, New Mexico, company offering a wide variety of Certified Organic, Open-Pollinated seeds, many of which are Heirloom, Rare and Traditional varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers.
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
  A source for heirloom seeds and other open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds with an emphasis on vegetables, flowers, and herbs that grow well in the Mid-Atlantic region (based in Mineral, Virginia). Good selection of pumpkins and okra.
• Territorial Seed Company
  Online catalog of bulbs, herb, vegetable and flower seeds. Good collection of lettuces, including Brunia and others for cold weather. Also fava beans. Available in 3 packet sizes. Culture information available. Located in Oregon.
• Tomato Growers Supply Company
  For a truly large selection of tomatoes and pepper seeds! Browse and order online from this Florida company. Fully illustrated.
• TomatoFest
  A supplier of over 600 varieties of Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds from California.
• Totally Tomatoes
  Offers heirloom and hybrid tomatoes and peppers.
• Tropilab, Inc.
  Exporter and wholesaler of medicinal plants, herbs and tropical seeds.
• Victory Seeds
  A family-run seed company located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon offering open-pollinated and heirloom vegetable seeds, herb and flower seeds. Order online. Check out their beans.

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Seed Starting / Saving Books

Ashworth, Suzanne
Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for the Vegetable Gardener
This complete seed-saving guide from the Seed Savers Exchange describes specific techniques for 160 vegetables, including botanical classifications, flower structure and pollination, population size, isolation distances, and techniques.

Coulter, Lynn
Gardening with Heirloom Seeds: Tried-and-True Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables for a New Generation
SB117.C74 2006
In these beautifully illustrated pages, Lynn Coulter describes fifty old-fashioned species that have their roots in the past, from the Frenchman's Darling, a flowering herb whose seeds were pocketed by Napoleon Bonaparte when he invaded Egypt in 1798, to Snow White beets, an old Dutch favorite that will not stain the cook's fingers red.

Heffernan, Maureen
Burpee Seed Starter
SB119.H44 1997
Burpee Seed Starter offers the basics of seed-starting popular annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs as well as information on sowing indoors and outdoors, thinning, transplanting, troubleshooting.

Wheeler, Chris and Valerie Wheeler
Success with Seeds
SB453.W426 2003
Beginners will appreciate the easy-to-follow instructions, while experienced gardeners will value the host of special tips and tricks.

Browse the Catalog

For additional titles, browse the library catalog under the subjects:

• Plant Propagation
• Seeds
• Vegetables -- Seeds