My Favourite Seed Suppliers
When you visit a garden centre you will often see rows of seed packets with pretty pictures of flowers, vegetables and herbs on them. To be honest until I started getting into gardening I would feel intimidated, walk past them and head to the main plant area to purchase a plant that I could pop in the ground or in a pot for instant gratification. One day I was in a local farm shop and saw a rather lovely looking seed packet with cherry tomatoes on them, I thought – ‘well, why not let’s have a go’ and I haven’t looked back since. I brought them home, put all of them – yes all of them – in one large plastic flat pot with some potting soil I purchased and before I knew it I had a mini tomato plant forest, many more than I could possibly cope with. I was hooked and for the first season I bought some cheap packets of seeds from the local supermarket and started popping them in different sized pots, and very much learnt as I went along.
Not realising that storing the seeds in the shed was the worst place for them (they will survive for much longer in a cool dark environment) many of the seeds didn’t germinate and I was disappointed at my failed crops. I started to read and learn more about specialist seeds and plants along the way and now I’m into my third year of growing from seed. It’s my favourite kind of slow living, some of the plants take over a year to reach their full potential and when you do finally see a plant that you have grown from seed thriving it’s genuinely so joyful. There will be some sad moments along the way but for the few pounds you may have spent on the seeds you can just start all over again!
Listed below are some of my favourite suppliers for seeds, some of these people are small independent companies who are so passionate about their produce and I’m so happy to be able to support them.
Make sure to take your time on their websites as they are often full of great advice and seed sowing strategies because they really want you to be able to achieve success in your own garden.
My advice when choosing seeds to grow is to start off with a small order of items you would really like to grow in your garden, think about the area which you have available and the final height and spread of the plants. Perhaps if you have some established features such as roses, trees, shrubs or perennial plants, consider companion plants that work well with what you already have and consider a season of year round colour and vegetables. Also don’t overlook herbs that can add the extra element of colour, texture, scent and flowers to your garden as well.
UK Seed Suppliers
Chiltern Seeds
Sarah Raven
Swan Cottage Flowers
Real Seeds
Higgledy Garden
Tamar Organics
Roger Parsons Sweet Peas
Jekka’s Herbs
Plants of Distinction
Mr Fothergill’s
Seedaholic
International Seed Suppliers
Floret Flowers – Please note they are no longer able to supply seeds due to Customs restrictions but it is a very useful resource for growing and plant types.
Johnny’s Seeds
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