In years past, late January was for sitting by the woodstove, snowed in (as we usually have our first big snow fall in Virginia the third week of January) seed catalogs spread out before me. I felt warmer from just dreaming of eating fresh food straight from verdant lush gardens in July. Following are the absolute best choices of seed catalogs for Virginia gardeners.
Order your seeds before the New Year
The game has changed a bit post Covid era. Many more people are gardening (YAY!) Consequently, the garden seeds and supplies sell out earlier than ever before (BOO!)
I worked part time for an heirloom seed supplier, and talk to all my long-time garden friends. Finding once-abundant vegetable seeds and starts is more difficult these days.
Besides the exponential increase in demand, the many people and forces involved in the supply chain (seeds, packaging, shipping, etc., etc.) are facing challenges that didn’t exist until now. This is a friendly reminder to get your orders in earlier this time. Once, January was when to persue the best seed catalogs in Virginia.
Nowadays, I recommend you shop those seed catalogs in Virginia, and order by mid- December. This will greatly increase the chance that the arrival of all you need for your gardens, However, I still sometimes miss that self-imposed deadline. Maybe you did, too.
If you did, great! My advice may be more helpful than usual.
If you are ahead of the game, go, YOU! I need some of your organizational energy and feedback. Feel free, all, to comment below with your planning strategies, favorite seed sources and nurseries.
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Top-notch seed catalogs for Virginia gardeners
Virginia seeds for Virginia gardeners
1.Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Mineral, Virginia.
Aside from their free online garden planner, and incredible variety, pictures and stories to go with these fruits, vegetables and herbs that perform well in the Southeast, the folks at SESE walk the walk. This intentional community grows out the seeds, and includes on their website and print catalog symbols for heirloom, organic, open-pollinated and small farms.
Even if you already ordered your seeds and live way across the country or globe, if you love gardening, take a look at their site and order their actual catalog for next time. It is beautiful and a good read.
2.The Center for Historic Plants Charlottesville, VA. Monticello and some of its surrounding estates that Thomas Jefferson used to own are now considered UNESCO World Heritage sites. These sites represent so many things from the past (both good and bad), but these days, the site moves forward as a world-class demonstration of botanical experimentation. The grounds of CHP are only open to the public by appointment and two open houses a year.
The Center for Historic Plants produces another one of the best seed catalogs for Virginia gardeners and their Eastern United States’ counterparts. The prices for plants and the health of their nursery stock are especially impressive.
Other best seed catalogs for Virginia gardeners from further afield
3. Fedco Seeds Clinton, Maine. Fedco Seeds has been around almost half a century. Though the catalog is aimed at growers in the NORTHeast, the area still encompasses areas in the north and western parts of Virginia. (Growing zones 6-7).
Similar to the Southern Exposure catalog, the drawings and descriptions within are delights to the eyes. Fedco has five divisions: Seeds, Potatoes, Onions and Exotics, Organic Growers Supply, Trees, and Bulbs, and they also donate to many institutions.
As a true cooperative, Fedco adheres to (rare in the retail world these days) impeccable ethical standards: “We are a cooperative, one of the few seed companies so organized in the United States. Because we do not have an individual owner or beneficiary, profit is not our primary goal. Consumers own 60% of the cooperative and worker members 40%. Consumer and worker members share proportionately in the cooperative’s profits through our annual patronage dividends.”
This is likely why their prices are generally low, while their quality remains high.
4. Baker’s Creek Mansfield, Missouri. This is another not-strictly Southern (or Eastern) seed source. They still carry many varieties that can and will grow well in Virginia.
Baker’s Creek is like the High Fidelity of seed catalogs. It is great for gardeners who seek out esoteric varieties, and has plants with monikers that could easily be a favorite band’s name. “Black Strawberry Tomato” and “Atomic Purple Gomphrena” are a few examples.
The website address is “rareseeds.com”, lest you have any doubt what this company’s approach is.
The newest catalog features many, many purple plants which speaks to my monochromatic and Prince-loving heart. It also has me half-imagining Jack Black or a local barista (or both) showing up to judge my taste in music, coffee and eggplant varieties, simultaneously. (Yes, I miss the 90s!)
5.Johnny’s Selected Seeds of Maine. Another business located way up north in Maine, Johnny’s has also been at it for almost half a century.
They have a tremendous selection of garden and farm-tested flower, vegetable, herb and fruit seeds. They also carry mushroom plugs, great books and a huge selection of tools and supplies to make gardening easier. (And more interesting).
With 53 different categories of available vegetable seeds alone and 6 types of seed (heirloom, hybrid, open-pollinated, organic, pelleted, and treated), Johnny’s has variety covered. There is plenty of information contained in the catalog of how to grow it all. They also sell books. Many are written by their farmer and gardener contributors, and tool developers, such as Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch.
Snacking on pumpkin seeds from a recent harvest, and drinking a hot beverage before it gets really cold remind me I need to crack these catalogs open. In real life, and virtually, I need to get going on my seed order!
A bonus of saving open pollinated seeds means I don’t need to order nearly as many seeds as I used to. This is great economically, but not quite as fun as sending in a huge list of seeds and handing over my money. I usually prefer frugal options, but: woo, boy!!! When I receive a big seed order, it feels like I have the world in the palm of my hands.
I once packaged many of those epic seed orders myself in the spring and fall at a local warehouse. I now better appreciate the time and care (and confusion and importance to detail) that goes into the packaging all of these orders.
It is a meticulous process, demanding accuracy and a steady eye. I never manage to plant all that I receive. Ordering and planting seeds is a gardener’s purest embodiment of hope.
No matter what is happening, the promise is strong at the beginning of a growing season. There is hope that those seeds will take root and make their way in the world.