Seeds

Garden seeds are the most important element of any garden, since without them there is no garden! When planning and shopping for your garden seed, there is much to keep in mind. Careful research and shopping can help result in a successful garden and abundant crops. Sources for garden seeds can include garden seed catalogs published by garden seed companys, lawn and garden supply stores, department stores, hardware stores, and online retailers.

You might want to consider writing to a few garden seed companies and asking for their latest garden seed catalog. Most any major garden seed company will offer free garden seed catalogs listing what seed packets and bulk garden seeds they have available for sale. Also remember that one way to obtain free garden seeds is to save the seeds from last year's crops. Dried and stored properly they can be a great source of free garden seed year after year. One major seed provider is Pinetree garden seeds. They sell a wide variety of seeds, including flower seeds, container plant seeds, grass and cover crop seeds, herb seeds, sprouting seeds, vegetable seeds, and even mushroom growing kits.

Many gardeners enjoy planting butterly garden seed packets, which produce a wide variety of butterfly attracting plants. Some annuals that will attract butterflies include: coneflowers, flowering tobacco, impatiens, marigolds, phlox, sunflower, verbena, zinnia, and cosmos. Some perennials that will attract butterflies include: asters, bee balm, butterfly weed, chrysan-themums, daisies, live forever, purple coneflower, sedum, heliotrope, rosemary nasturtium and yarrow. Some wildflowers that will attract butterflies include: New England aster, bergamots or horsemints, black-eyed Susan, blazing stars, boneset, butterfly flower, coreopsis, ox-eye daisy, and purple ageratum. Another tip to remember is that planting parsley to attract caterpillars will help to generate a very active butterfly garden.

Another popular choice for garden seed is agastache. Agastache plants are beautiful plants that will attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. Hummers are highly attracted to red, orange, and pink-flowered forms, while butterflies, particularly swallowtails, favor the blue-flowered varieties. The leaves of some agastache plants, such as anise hyssop, can be used for teas or as a food seasoning.

If you want to maintain an organic vegetable garden, organic garden seeds will be a good choice for you. Be sure to verify that the seed supplier is certified organic by the USDA, compliant with the Organic Foods Production