10 Best Places To Buy Quality Flower Seeds Online
I’ve been gardening for more than 20 years, so I’ve tried my share of seed companies online. There are more seed companies than just about anyone can keep track of, but from that vast number, a solid handful stands out and earn my repeat business.
These companies are also widely used by other flower gardeners and farmers (I’ll share a poll of 357 growers in a moment), so the sentiments are shared regarding the quality of these companies.
To understand which qualities put these companies on the list, here are a few things I look for when sourcing quality seeds online:
Non-GMO/Organic: All of the included seed companies sell only non-GMO seeds and have organic selections.
High germination rate: I’ve had excellent germination with these companies, and many offer a refund if you experience less than ideal germination rates. However, I’ve never had to pursue that option.
Growing information on website or packet: Many of the websites or seed packets have enough in-depth growing details that you don’t need to look elsewhere. This is especially helpful when you get set up to start planting.
Selection: The companies have a broad enough selection to find most of what I’m looking for. As a bonus, this saves on shipping costs.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what makes each company stand out in particular:
Company | Notes |
---|---|
Johnny’s Seeds | vast selection, in-depth growing information |
Baker Creek | heirloom varieties, free seed pack & free shipping over $10 |
The Gardener’s Workshop | smaller seed packet sizes, huge resource library |
Botanical Interest | helpful seedling identification on packet, |
Renee’s Garden | beautiful seed packets, heirloom varieties |
Pinetree Garden Seeds | smaller seed amounts for the home garden, wide selection |
Redemption Seeds | detailed seed packets, a wide selection of heirloom varieties |
Swallowtail Seeds | superb germination rates, high selection of popular cut flowers |
American Meadows | region & use specific wildflower mixes, high-quality seeds |
Floret | many exclusive varieties, deep resources of information on website |
A poll of 357 flower gardeners and farmers shows that Johhny’s is one of the best companies to order your flower seeds from.
Note that the second most popular company from the poll is Geoseeds. This company is one of the premier companies flower farmers use to purchase their seeds. However, I omitted Geoseeds from my list because you cannot currently place an order online. You must call the company directly.
From home flower gardeners to side-hustle flower farmers, here are some of the best online seed companies to buy high-quality seeds for your garden.
Worried you missed the garden season?
You haven’t! Start your garden quickly and easily with companion planting. Choose some partners and start planting!
Grab your FREE guide here:
1. Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Johnny’s is my go-to flower seed company, no question. You’ll even see me mention them in many of my posts here. They’re simply a fantastic resource for a flower gardener, no matter what scale you’re at. This company is very popular with flower farmers to backyard flower gardeners.
They have an extensive selection of seeds in their catalog. And by extensive, I mean they sell hundreds of varieties of 75+ types of flowers. Johnny’s gives detailed growing information on each flower and has a resource library to learn more about flowers, tools, and general gardening.
My only complaint with Johnny’s is that their shipping is a bit steep. They charge in tiers based on your order size. I recently bought around $100 worth of flower seeds and had to pay $15 in shipping.
2. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek is an interesting company known for its extensive selection of heirloom varieties. The company strives to preserve old varieties and help gardeners save their own seeds. They sell seed packets that are a great size for the home gardener or mini-farmer.
Baker Creek has two cool perks that I don’t see with other companies. Orders over just $10 ship free, which helps keep costs down, especially when ordering large amounts of seed. Also, each order of two or more packets will come with a free, surprise seed packet.
I’ve only ever gotten vegetables or herbs, never flowers, for the free packet, but I’m not complaining! I grow vegetables, too, so the seeds still get used. I almost always get something I’ve never tried before, so it’s a fun way to experiment with new varieties.
One caveat with Baker Creek is that their growing information on the website and seed packets is minimal. The packets do include the standard spacing and depth requirements, but you will have to research elsewhere for special germination or harvesting tips.
3. The Gardener’s Workshop
Owned by growing maven Lisa Mason Ziegler, The Gardener’s Workshop sells flower seeds exclusively. No veggies here! Seeds are available in categories such as cool-season annuals, ornamental flowers, and cover crops. The selection isn’t as broad as other companies, but the customer support through email or social media is impressive.
I like that they sell collections of seeds, such as “Plant it Pink” and the Sunflower Collection. These curated collections make great gifts for gardening friends. Or yourself, let’s be honest.
The Gardener’s Workshop has online courses in seed starting and cool-season annuals that I enjoy. The seed starting course covers using soil blocks for your seed setup, which is what I use. If you know you want to try soil blocking, you can order a small kit that comes with three flower seed packets, giving you a little sampler of The Gardener’s Workshop seeds.
4. Renee’s Garden
Based in Northern California, Renee’s Garden seed packets will get you motivated to get in the garden. The illustrations are hand-drawn and colorful, and they’re a great representation of what the plant looks like.
The seed quality is excellent, and I’ve always had good germination whether I’ve bought flower or vegetable seeds. The flowers trend toward old-fashioned heirloom varieties, which is great if you’re looking for scented flowers. I’ve found more fragrant cut flowers here than other seed companies.
I enjoy browsing the mixes that Renee’s Gardens creates, such as “Fairy Garden Mix” or “Endless Bouquets Cut Flower Mix” for fun inspiration.
The packets are a wealth of information, often with an extra flap that offers a second page of knowledge. The seed quantities are great for home gardens, and they’re long-lasting. I just found an old packet of nasturtium seeds from 2013 that have sprouted well. Waste not, want not!
5. Botanical Interests
Botanical Interests was one of the first companies I bought flower seeds from when I started gardening, and I still browse the seed rack at the garden center. The seed packets are eye-catching, with hand-drawn illustrations decorating the front.
I especially like that the seed packets include a sketch on the back to show what the seedling looks like. Having a reference for what those first, small, true leaves look like is invaluable when weeding a new seedbed. Plus, it’s a great way for new gardeners to get familiar with what the plant foliage looks like.
My only complaint with Botanical Interests is that the germination rates are sometimes lower than other companies on this list. But to balance this issue, the seeds are priced a bit lower than other companies for the same amount of seeds.
The germination rate is high enough, and the seedlings robust enough that this isn’t a deal-breaker for me. Additionally, other gardeners have consistently high germination rates, so they’re still worth including on this list.
6. Pinetree Gardens
One of the great things about Pinetree Gardens is that their seed packets have smaller numbers of seeds, and the prices reflect that. It makes for a low-risk way to try new varieties of flowers in the garden without spending a lot of money. You don’t always want 50 seeds of a new variety when just 20 will do.
That being said, plenty of the packets come with at least 50 seeds, so if you fall in love with a variety, there are plenty of seeds to plant.
7. Swallowtail Seeds
The excellent germination rates are the most repeated quality I’ve heard of with Swallowtail Seeds. I have to agree, and this, plus their variety selection, is a reason to check them out.
Some flowers have an extensive catalog to choose from, such as 43 cosmos varieties. The sweet pea section alone has 24 different varieties, plus a couple of dwarf varieties. On the other hand, cut flower Gomphrena has only one option, so you might have to look elsewhere for some things.
Shipping is a handy flat rate of $5.99 at the time of writing, and there are sometimes weekly deals for free shipping over a certain amount, such as $50. So keep your eye out for the sales and save a few bucks.
8. Redemption Seeds
Redemption Seeds feels like a mini-Johnny’s to me. They carry (almost) all the varieties a flower gardener or farmer could want, and their website makes it so easy to filter what you’re looking for. For example, you can search by cool-season flowers, greenery filler, or by color such as “sunset colors.”
The website doesn’t have a lot of growing information listed for each flower, but the seed packets do. Stats like spacing, depth, and germination time are labeled on the packet, so you shouldn’t have to look up planting instructions midway through sowing.
Granted, this doesn’t impact the quality of their seeds, but I have to mention their packaging. Each wrapped seed order comes with a handwritten thank you card and fund stickers on the box. It’s a nice touch and makes getting your seed order all the more exciting.
9. American Meadows
For something a little different, try American Meadows, which specializes in wildflower seeds. They carry other flower seeds, as well, but as their name suggests, the company’s primary focus is helping you plant a meadow chock-full of wildflowers.
And many wildflowers make excellent cut flowers with their long stems, long vase life, and airy, romantic look.
You can buy straight runs of specific flower varieties, such as only cosmos or lupines. But the real treat here is to browse the selection of region- and purpose-specific wildflower mixes.
For example, you can look at mixes that will grow well in the Pacific Northwest or the Southeast. You can also sort by purpose and look at mixes that will attract butterflies, are drought-tolerant, or that will grow in the shade.
American Meadows also sells live perennial plants and bulbs, but I haven’t tried any of those yet.
10. Floret
No list of cut flower seed companies would be complete without mentioning Floret. Full disclosure, I haven’t grown any of her seeds yet. Floret, owned by flower farmer extraordinaire Erin Benzakein, only releases her seeds for sale a few times per year. So when that happens, hundreds of Floret fans and flower farmers are on the website with speedy fingers.
The seeds sell out within minutes, if not seconds, and I am apparently not that fast at completing a purchase. So I’ll keep trying, but even without personal experience, I know that Floret seeds are very popular. The seed packets have beautifully hand-drawn illustrations and are their own little worlds of art.
I have heard that you get fewer seeds for your money than other companies, so keep this in mind. Some varieties are exclusive to Floret, so it may be worth it to you to pay a little more to get unique varieties. Other flower varieties are available at other online seed companies, so don’t forget to check there, too.
Now that you have a go-to list of online seed companies to shop check out this post 10 Easy Cut Flowers To Grow From Seed, choose your favorites, and get started!