Hi Max, I have ordered out of catalogs and truthfully unless you are looking for something out of the ordinary I have found my best bet has been the three box stores. They seem to get a good supply with lots of variety and if you buy early you can usually get what you want. Why pay the shipping charges? I have also had some really good trades on the seed trading fourm. Good Luck and Happy Gardening.
Pam
Lake of the Ozarks

I haven't had trouble with seeds from catalogs. I ordered from Parks and Seeds and More this year. Usually if my seeds don't grow, I have planted too early or watered too much or something. I did order some flowering tobacco from a company that specialized in fragrant plants that did not grow. When you order seeds you can run up a big bill quickly and then you have to pay shipping. Watch the number of seeds in the packet. A vine I ordered comes in a packet of 5 seeds for about $5. That is a gamble because I am not that careful and I could easily kill 5 little seedlings if they do sprout. I think it is fun to look through the catalogs and try new things. This is my entertainment especially in winter. Also for years I ordered ruffles zinnias expensive seed not sold in stores here; I liked that variety very much. The seed exchange takes a little time and effort. A few years ago I got lots of seeds for postage and self addressed bubble envelopes. I didn't trade. If you watch closely there are people who will send seeds you want without expecting a trade from you. It is fun getting the packages. Just send a thank you e-mail that is all some expect in return. The time required is watching the forum so you can respond to good offers. You are a newbie if you haven't tried it even if you are an oldie at gardening. Some offers for free seed are very common seeds (mixed morning glories) but some are very worthwhile. Columbine plants for one make lots of seed and those are good plants.

OK, here is my experience..........I don't order from Parks or Burpee. My favorite for lots of things is Pinetree Seeds. For heirloom flowers is Select Seeds. I do get a lot of ordinary garden seeds from Hummert's in the big city (Springfield). I stay away from Big Box stores...had sorry germination with most. That is just me. Pinetree offers smaller packages more suitable for what I want and at a very resonable price.

I think Burpee is way overpriced. Park Seed for the last few years has had germination problems, our local green house person verified that too.

As I said, that is just my experience and opinion.

Good luck with your ordering.

Yes, saving seeds and trading is a good thing!

sandhill preservation[poultry too]
pinetree
victory seeds
seed savers exchange
j l hudson, seedsman
totally tomatoes[jungs]
vermont bean seeds[jungs]
tomato growers supply
chuck wyatts old website
baker creek

just my opinion
william

I forgot Baker Creek; I order from them too.

Thanks to all for all the input. I'll give all this to my wife and let her make the decision. :-) Never a bad idea.

We moved back here four years ago and the old place was really run down. The house was built around 1900 and the dirt is dead and lots of rock, but we are slowly getting it into shape. Really enjoy reading all the mail here.

I've ordered seeds from Park's but it was many years ago and I can't even remember what I got from them. Thompson and Morgan has a HUGE selection of flowers and I've ordered from them a few times but so many of their flowers are not suited to our climate, you have to be careful.

I've ordered from Jung's too. They have a pretty good selection.

Have you noticed that nearly all the seed companies are located either up north or on the coast. It would be great to get a seed catalog in the mail full of varieties that tolerate hot dry summers.

Here's a link to Jung's annual flower seeds. They offer a few perennial seeds too. If you click on "perennials" on the left, it will let you choose seeds or plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jung's annual flower seeds

it is interesting to note that jungs owns 5 companies, jungs, totally tomatoes, vermont bean seed, shumways and one , i think that is called rbc.
william

William and others who grow lots of tomatoes, what varieties ended up on your actually ordered list? I have been looking at old posts. I saw your silvery pinetree ? at seed savers. It looked very interesting. I think it is the postage that stops me on some of these specialty seed companies. Park's has a mixed heirloom package with 6 varieties for 2 pkts for 3.50. What do you think of that? Also red current tomatoes the size of peas got a good rating on the Cornell site. I don't like cherry tomatoes but the raters raved on them. Boy am I in the mood to plant something. I know it is way too early.

That sounds like something I would like Helen. The small size would be great for salads.

I have ordered seeds from Pinetree and Jungs and Parks.They are all good for unusual seeds.Anything you order is more expensive.I also had some trouble with Parks seed germinating,but ordered tomatoes and joe pye weed etc. this year.Got my order in a very short time,maybe two weeks.Last year I bought perennial babys breath from Ferry Morse(really cheap at Orchlens).Everybody I talked to said they were slow to germinate and hard to grow.They popped up and I decided maybe they were annuals.E-mailed the company and she said they only sold the annual.She sent me two packages of zinnias to replace them.Those Zinnias did the best of any flowers I grew last year.Then I got a package of babys breath at Wal Mart(Burpees).They came up in a few days so I e-mailed Burpee.The lady really talked down to me and kept quoting things that were on the package.Told me that they don't have an agronomist on site and ended up sending me a check.She was rather rude,I thought.It left me with a bad feeling towards Burpee.They did send a catalog.I thought it was too high priced for my budget.The babys breath were perennials!I have not ordered from Bakers creek but had a disappointing experience with them.They were out of the seed I wanted in April at the store after I drove down there and paid admission to get in!PosyPet

arkie62,

The best place to go for all garden mail order company reviews is the Garden Watchdog.

It's a free directory of 6,673 mail order gardening companies. Gardeners share opinions on which companies deliver on quality, price and service. People like you and I post feedback based on our experiences.

You can narrow vendors by what you're looking for and/or location.