Two More Tricks to Cheap Seeds

Once upon a time I ran a bedding plant business. I think I made about $200 that year. But from that experience I learned something so obvious it's embarrassing. Wholesale is cheaper than retail. And nowhere is that more obvious than in the seed business.
Owning a small greenhouse business has its advantages, not the least of which is you get to write things off on your taxes and maybe even realize a profit. You also get to buy from wholesale distributors. The price is always much less than retail. The catch is you must buy in quantity. This is not really a problem since most seed keeps for years, or you could resell some, perhaps at a reasonable mark-up, to gardening pals.

If you are not interested in going into business, then watch those seed-rack displays. Seed companies only sell seed packaged for the current year. At the end of each season, you can get mega-bargains on this year's product. Often seeds that sold for $1 a packet, sell at ten packets for $1 when the stores are clearing inventory. Garden centers offer the least drastic discounts, while grocery stores, hardware stores, and other stores not normally in the garden supply business just want to get rid of them. A word of caution, however, is remember that the perfect environment for storing seed is a cool, dry place. Don't buy from seed racks exposed to rain or excess summer heat. The seed may be ruined.

Dealing with Seed Bargains

Mail-order catalogs and display racks everywhere from garden centers to grocery and hardware stores sell seeds. Which sources offer the best bargains?

Mail-order seed companies are big business. Pick up a catalog and wander through those glossy pages of perfect plants; you can't help but be tempted to order many. Rule number one is to take the pictures with a grain of salt. Your plants probably won't look just like the picture-perfect ones.

Compare several catalogs, and you will quickly find that most are selling the same seeds, packaged a little differently in a range of prices. Look for the best-priced varieties with the color, flavor, texture, growth habit, or other traits you desire. Hint: It's not always the biggest company that offers the smallest price. Furthermore small seed companies often focus on local conditions and offer varieties that will thrive in your immediate area. Check them first if there are any near you.

Gardening magazines often have a seed-savers exchange section. Someone has saved variety X and would like to trade for Y. These are a great way to get seedsoften rare or heirloom varieties that are hard to find elsewhere. There are seed-saving clubs, such as the Seed Savers Exchange, the members of which trade thousands of seed varieties. (See page 156 for address.) Finally, plant associations abound for nearly every kind of plantfrom alpines to water lilies. National groups usually send out a newsletter in which members often list plants they have to offer. If you have a real passion for a particular kind of plant, get involved with the local chapter of the appropriate association. (Of course, the really cheap way is to become friends with someone who is already a member and borrow a copy of the newsletter!)

Where to Find Homeless Plants

Digging up someone else's landscape is obviously a bad idea, but there are a number of valuable resources for finding unwanted plants. Landscape companies frequently redesign existing plantings, both residential and commercial. Construction firms remove existing plants everyday when expanding structures, usually with a bulldozer. If you make contact with these people and offer to remove unwanted plants for free, you may find yourself with more plants than you can handle.

No matter what the source of a secondhand plant, transplant only healthy-looking specimens. A free diseased plant can become quite costly.