The 18 Best Places to Buy Seeds Online

some seed packets I’ve bought from my favorite online seed companies

 

Where to Buy Seeds

Looking to get started with gardening?

While you can buy baby plants from your local garden center, it’s much more fulfilling (and inexpensive) to grow plants from seed!

There are so many seed companies out there, offering everything from non-GMO to heirloom to open pollinated varieties.

There are local seed companies based on growing zones (“southern”), specialty seed companies that focus on hard-to-find plants (“asian greens”) and companies that specialize in categories of vegetables (ie “tomatoes”)

Here’s a comprehensive list of online seed companies that offer high quality seeds!

 

 

Quickly jump to:

• My Favorite Online Seed Stores
• Reputable Seed Companies
• Best Time to Buy Seeds
• How Long Seeds Last
• How to Store Seeds

 

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My Favorite Seed Companies

 

I never have enough space to plant everything I buy (ha).

So I often save seeds and use them months or years later. I prefer to buy from companies that sell fresh seed with high germination rates and that don’t charge an arm and a leg for shipping.

With that in mind, these are my top seed companies to buy from!

 

 

Botanical Interests

Broomfield, Colorado

 

 

Botanical Interests is one of my favorite seed companies.

They carry over 600 herb, vegetable and flower seeds and are best known for their beautiful seed packets!

Each packet has an artist illustration of the plant on the front – these are by far the prettiest seeds I’ve ever seen.

 

 

And inside, there’s practically a mini book of everything you need to know about growing that seed – sowing, harvesting, pest control, cooking tips, etc!

When I was just starting to grow indoors, I knew nothing about gardening so Botanical Interests was a great company to buy from.

The company was founded in Colorado in 1995, by a husband and wife. They’ve since sold to Epic Gardening, the Youtube channel and huge gardening brand run by Kevin Espiritu.

 

 

As part of the acquisition, you can now also buy Birdies garden beds through Botanical Interests!

The galvanized steel garden beds are great for growing outdoors. They’re sturdy, come in all sizes and heights, and look really chic while also being incredibly durable.

Overall, I’ve always had a great experience with Botanical Interests.

I’ve bought seeds from them many times, always online, but they also have partnerships with garden centers and health food grocers so you can sometimes find their seeds locally.

They’re a company that really focuses on home gardeners and is passionate about garden education.

 

 

 

 

Renee’s Garden Seeds

Felton, California

 

Renee’s is another online seed company with beautiful seed packets and catalogs.

They specialize in container friendly vegetables, so they’re perfect for anyone growing indoors, in hydroponics or in small spaces!

The brand has taken the Safe Seed Pledge to not sell genetically engineered seeds and focuses on offering open pollinated, heirloom varieties from around the world.

 

 

The company was founded by Renee Shepard and is a great resource for home gardeners.

I especially like that you can filter by container varieties as they’re one of the few companies that offer an extensive range of small space-saving vegetable seeds.

In particular, I like Renee’s option of strawberries, tomatoes, beans and eggplants!

They also offer cookbooks, art prints, garden supplies and a range of bulbs, roots and tuber plants!

 

 

 

 

 

 

True Leaf Market

Salt Lake City, Utah

 

True Leaf was founded by a plant geneticist from Utah State University.

The company remains independently owned and is like a one stop shop for gardeners, with a huge offering of vegetable, flower and herb seeds as well as supplies (planters, trays, fertilizers, grow racks, etc).

In particular, I find that they have a great variety of eggplant, cucumber and pumpkin seeds.

 

 

The company was originally called the Mountain Valley Seed Company (some of their seeds are still sold under this brand name) and in 2022, they acquired Kitazawa Seed.

As a result, you can find lots of Asian vegetable seeds on their site now!

True Leaf is also unique for their specialty seed offerings. They carry: 

• micro-greens
• sprouts
• grain
• Indian seeds
• Asian seeds
• quinoa

 

 

They also sell specialty kits for those who want an introduction to growing sprouts, making tofu or trying out hydroponics.   

I like that their website includes fun recipes to try, allows customer reviews and has extensive filtering options to sort seeds by zone, type or days to maturity.

Shipping is free for orders over $75 and pretty quick, usually within 1-2 business days. They have a rewards program and also have discounts for bulk orders.

 

 

 

 

 

Kitazawa Seed

Salt Lake City, Utah

 

Kitazawa specializes in Asian seeds.

If you’re a fan of Asian cooking and want to try growing unique Asian herbs, vegetables and edible flowers, they’re the best place to buy online seeds!

They carry hard-to-find Asian varieties like baby napa cabbage, yu choy sum, Japanese eggplant.

 

 

Kitazawa has a distinctive, no-frills style of packaging with green and white labels.

What I find unique about them is they offer pre-bundled assortment packs! The Chef Specialty packs contain a combination of herbs, greens or veggies according to various themes, like Japanese heirlooms, Thai garden, shabu shabu, pickling, etc.

They’re also one of the few online seed stores that offer seed packets in bulk.

On each product page, you can buy a traditional 3 gram packet as well as larger quantities… all the way up to 5 pounds! The higher the seed quantity, the better the pricing.

If you have a homestead, lots of land or want to place a group order, that’s a really nice option.

 

 

 

Kitazawa was founded in 1917 by Giju Kitazawa.

He had apprenticed for a seed company in Japan before striking out on his own in California, selling primarily to Japanese American farmers.

When World War II broke out, Kitazawa and his family were among those placed in Japanese interment camps.

 

 

He eventually restarted the business after the war but his original customer base was gone, after many Japanese farmers had lost their land.

Kitazawa Seed then started selling seeds across the US and now they’re online!

In 2022, the business was sold to True Leaf Market, but remains committed to offering non-GMO Asian varieties.

You can find all Kitazawa Varieties on their direct website as well as on True Leaf Market.

 

 

 

 

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Mansfield, Missouri

 

When I first made the move to grow my own seeds in the Aerogarden, I used seeds from Baker Creek.

They’re incredibly popular, thanks to their devotion to heirloom seeds.

 

 

If you’re looking to grow herbs, vegetables and flowers that you won’t regularly find at the grocery store, this is the place to buy seeds.

They sell open pollinated, specialty varieties that are hard to find elsewhere and their selection is impressively large.

It’s basically impossible for me to go on their website and not add something to my cart, ha.

Baker Creek also regularly sources new varieties every year. And I’ve found they overpack their seed packets. They’re always generously filled so you get more than enough seeds.

 

 

Baker Creek was founded in 1998 in Mansfield, Missouri as just a hobby but has since grown to become the largest heirloom seed company in North America.

They’re most famous for their seed catalogues and offer two:

• a free annual catalogue
• a Whole Seed catalogue.

The latter is a glossy 500+ page book, focused on their passion for rare seeds and heirloom gardening. It’s more like the September issue of Vogue for the gardening world, ha!

 

 

What I really like about Baker Creek is how easy they are to order from.

You can order seeds for your entire garden on their website, because they have such a wide selection. And, each seed product page has reviews, so you can read what other customers have liked or disliked about each plant.

Baker Creek offers free shipping on every order (they’re the only online seed company that I’ve found that offers this) so they’re great for home growers or anyone just getting started with gardening!

You can just buy a couple seed packets and see if you even like gardening.

 

 

And, Baker Creek offers a fun little bonus. 

With every order over $10, you get a free seed packet!

I’ve gotten to try fun heirloom varieties like wasabi radishes, tiny spoon cherry tomatoes and pink mizuna. I would never have known about these varieties if it weren’t for the bonus seeds!

 

 

 

Where to Buy Seeds

quickly jump to:

Amazon | Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Botanical Interests | Burpee Seeds | Etsy | Fedco | High Mowing Seeds | Home Depot | Johnny’s Seeds | Kitazawa Seeds | Lowe’s | MIGardener | Renaissance Farms | Renee’s Garden Seeds | Seed Savers Exchange | Terrain | True Leaf Market | Victory Seeds

 

Amazon

 

The store that sells everything… also sells seeds!

I’m always surprised by what Amazon carries.

Because they’re open to third party vendors, they have some really unique varieties, like extra dwarf cherry tomato seeds, Asian seeds and heirloom lettuces in addition to your standard herb, veggie and flower offerings.

 

 

Sometimes I just want to try one or two new seeds and won’t meet the free shipping minimum from more specialty seed companies, but I can find the same seed on Amazon and get it in 2 days with free shipping through Prime.

And, Amazon sells literally everything – I’ve bought nutrients, raised garden beds and hydroponic gardens from them – so it’s a very convenient all-in-one shop.

They also carry brands like Burpee and Survival Garden Seeds, allow you to filter by USDA hardiness zone and seed type (non-GMO, heirloom, organic, etc). 

A lot of vendors will sell assortment packs, where you can buy all the vegetable seeds you need for your home garden in one bundle. These are always really cheap, so they’re a great value.

But, germination rates can be hit or miss.

Since each product page has reviews, I recommend reading through what other people have to say to stick to the high quality options.

 

 

 

Etsy

I always thought of Etsy as a craft marketplace, but it’s actually a great place to buy seeds!

A lot of home growers will sell their own seeds through the platform, so you can find some unique varieties on Etsy that are hard to source online.

In particular, I find they have a great selection of ornamental peppers, hot peppers, dwarf tomato and container-friendly sweet pepper varieties.

 

 

Etsy carries seeds for almost everything – vegetables, herbs, greens, flowers. They even carry fun gift ideas, like seeds in paper and seed bombs.

Also – Etsy is a great place to buy strawberry roots!

Strawberries are one of those crops that are pretty tricky to start from seed. Germination rates are low and the plant takes forever to grow fruit, so it’s much easier to start with strawberry roots – especially if you’re growing them hydroponically.

Try buying strawberry roots on Etsy.

It’s always surprising what you can buy online!

 

 

 

 

Terrain

Terrain sells the most beautiful garden supplies, furniture and decor… plus seeds! 

They sell seed kits that are beautifully packaged and carry micro greens, vegetables, cut flowers, etc. These would make great gifts!

I also really like their planters, seed boxes and garden furniture.

 

 

 

 

Home Depot

Home Depot sells seeds both online and in store, and they’re a convenient option because they have locations all over the country – even in NYC!

Their seeds are always competitively priced and they offer everything from vegetables to herbs and flowers.

Most of their seeds are the basic options, but I was pleasantly surprised to find they have dwarf and container-friendly varieties!

The nice thing about Home Depot is they also carry garden supplies and live plants, so you can grab everything you need in one place! 

 

 

 

 

Lowe’s

Lowe’s is another great affordable option!

If you just want basic garden seeds for common vegetable, herb and flower varieties they have an extensive range of seeds.

They also allow in store pickups and free returns, within 90 days which is pretty generous!

The convenient thing about shopping at Lowe’s is they also carry other garden supplies, plants and trees.

 

 

 

 

Renaissance Farms

Bloomington, Indiana

 

Renaissance Farms specializes in tomatoes!

They have all sorts of open pollinated heirloom varieties, including beefsteak, bi-color, canning and cherry tomatoes. What I really like is their container friendly options.

Typically compact tomato varieties are limited to micro dwarf tomatoes, but Renaissance Farms has a good selection of container-friendly slicer tomatoes and larger sized tomatoes.

 

 

 

 

MIGardener

MIGardener was suggested to me by a reader and I was pretty impressed after I checked them out!

The company was started by the popular eponymous gardening channel and offers a huge selection of heirloom vegetable seeds. 

They have some really unique options, like Turkish Orange Eggplants, Ha’Ogen Melons and Danish Ball Head Cabbage.

All of their seeds have excellent germination rates, simple clean packaging and helpful growing information. 

And, each product page allows customers to leave reviews, so you can get an idea of how the seeds have performed and what people thought of the plant’s taste and ease of growing.

Overall, MIGardener is a great company for home growers to order from! All orders over $12 ship free.

 

 

 

 

Burpee Seeds and Plants

Pennsylvania

 

Burpee Seeds is one of the oldest and most popular seed companies in the US.

They were founded in Philadelphia in 1876, as a research based seed company focused on improving cabbage, celery, carrots and beans.

 

 

They’ve created countless vegetable, herb and fruit varieties that are well known and loved today, like

• the original Iceberg lettuce in 1894
• the first white marigold in 1975
• the biggest beefsteak tomato in 2014

Their historic farm in rural Pennsylvania is still a trial and research ground for developing new varieties. Today, you can find their colorful seed packets in garden centers all across the country. 

Burpee’s prides themselves on their excellent seed germination rates. They offer non-GMO seeds as well as natural hybrid seeds and also introduced the concept of ‘Victory Gardens’.

In addition to seeds, they also sell live plants, fertilizers, soil and support cages.

One of the nice things about Burpee’s is their low flat shipping rate ($3.95 on all seed packet orders). Overall, they’re a great company to go to for classic varieties and helpful for small scale growers.

 

 

 

 

Victory Seeds

Irving, Texas

 

Victory Seeds is a popular seed company for home gardeners and small growers.

The family-owned seed company sells direct to gardeners, so you won’t find their seeds at any garden center or big box stores.

They place a huge emphasis on freshness, quality and high germination rates and work with a selected network of growers to ensure great quality seeds.

 

 

All of their seeds are stored under climate controlled conditions and shipped direct to customers. And everything they offer is open pollinated, non-GMO and heirloom so they’re a great resource for hard to find varieties.

Victory Seeds primarily focus on vegetable seeds, but also offer herb and flower seeds. They have an extensive catalog, but their website makes sorting and browsing quite easy! 

In particular, I like Victory Seeds for their selection of dwarf tomato seeds.

 

 

A group of volunteer hobby gardeners led by Craig LeHullier and Patrina Nuske-Small work to breed and cultivate compact tomatoes.

These are tomato varieties that can grow in containers, small spaces or even indoors and taste better than their full size counterparts!

Victory Seeds now offer over 150 types of dwarf tomatoes, including full size slicers and tomatoes of all colors.

Victory Seeds also has some rare heirloom varieties and hard-to-find seeds like grains, cover crops and tobacco.

 

 

 

 

Seed Savers Exchange

Iowa

 

Seed Savers Exchange is an heirloom seed company.

Founded in Missouri in 1975, the company started with two gardeners and expanded to form a network of growers interested in preserving heirloom varieties. Today, the company has over 13,000 members saving seeds from over 20,000 plants!

The nonprofit company’s mission is focused on preserving biodiversity in food crops. Over 75% of the world’s edible plant varieties have been lost in the last century, as large scale commercial farms have grown and more genetically engineered crops are used. 

So Seed Savers works to collect and store rare seed varieties and create America’s largest non-governmental seed bank. 

They even have a display garden in Iowa, where you can see where a lot of their work takes place!

Seed Savers Exchange has a gorgeous catalog and yearbook. If you join and become a member, you can find all sorts of niche varieties of plants and share with other members across the country.

Their online store has a huge variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs, and ships nationwide. 

 

 

 

 

Johnny’s Seeds

Winslow, Maine

 

Johnny’s is very popular with market gardeners and homesteaders – anyone with large garden plots as they offer bulk seed pricing. 

They sell dependable, disease-resistant varieties and focus on market crops with short maturity dates. All of their seeds are non-GMO and include both organic and heirloom varieties.

For small seed varieties (like lettuces, carrots and onions), you can even purchase the pellet form. This makes sowing easier, especially for farmers using mechanical seeders.

Johnny’s is headquartered in Maine and unique in that they’re owned by employees!

In 2006, workers were able to purchase a piece of the company through Johnny’s employee stock ownership plan and as a result it’s run by passionate, dedicated workers.

On their website, seeds are easy to sort, filter and save to cart via ‘quick order’. If you need growing advice, they have an extensive online library of tips, instructional videos and planning calculators. 

 

 

 

 

Fedco Seeds

Clinton, Maine

 

Fedco is another employee-owned seed company.

The co-op style seed company is directly owned by its worker members, who receive a share of the profits via annual dividends.

Based in Maine, Fedco specializes in cold hardy plant varieties that are specially adapted for harsh climates.

 

 

So if you also live in a region with a short growing season, browse their seed offerings!

They offer organic and heirloom vegetables, all reasonably priced, as well as bulbs, live plants, trees, seed potatoes and onion sets. The company is only operational seasonally, so they’re one to shop early.

If you wait too long, they’ll often be sold out!

Fedco also has a unique catalog to check out, if you’re someone who prefers to browse physical books.

They offer 3, based on each division, and have a unique black and white style catalogue with lots of hand drawn illustrations and occasional political messaging. 

Fedco is great for both home growers and large farmers and shipping is cheap!

 

 

 

 

High Mowing Seeds

Wolcott, VT

 

High Mowing is most known for offering 100% organic seeds.

They created the Safe Seed Pledge in 1999, which asserts that their seeds are not genetically modified and spearheaded the effort to get 9 other seed companies to also sign on board.

Today, over 370 seed companies across the globe are on this list!

 

 

High Mowing sells high quality fruit, vegetable, herb and flower seeds.

They offer both open-pollinated heirloom varieties as well as hybrid options. All of their seeds are regularly tested to ensure high germination rates and adequate resistance to disease.

Definitely check out their seed catalogs!

They feature profiles on the farmers, growers and gardeners that use their seeds and offer more of a personal touch into their products.

 

 

 

 

When Is the Best Time to Shop for Seeds?

Seeds, especially popular varieties, often sell out. So you have to do a bit of planning ahead and start shopping for seeds in winter, before the spring gardening season starts.

Seed companies usually put out their seed catalog in January. Don’t wait!

The dead of winter is a good time to start planning your summer garden and begin placing orders. 

Start your seeds indoors, six to eight weeks before your last frost date. You can check out the USDA Plant Hardiness map for your area to determine when to plant your seeds.

Towards the end of spring, garden centers and seed companies have limited inventory left and start discounting garden products. So I also buy seeds when they go on sale, to use for next year!

 

How Long Do Seeds Last

Good seed companies will sell fresh seeds so that you get the highest rate of germination.

But even if you don’t use all the seeds right away, they should last a couple years! You’ll get the best germination rates in year one, but it’s not unheard of to still grow plants from seeds that are up to 10 years old.

 

How to Store Seeds

Store seed packets in a sealed plastic bag, to keep out moisture. Place your seeds in a cool, dark place (like your fridge or freezer) to prolong their shelf life.

Before planting old seeds, you can test them to see if they’re still viable! Place the seeds in a jar of water and let them sit for 15 to 20 minutes. If the seeds sink, they should be good to plant. If they float, it’s likely they won’t sprout.

 

 

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