Growing plants from seed is an inexpensive way to fill your garden with flowers and edibles, and buying the seeds online makes the shopping process even easier.
You can also find unusual and hard-to-find flowers, herbs, and vegetables when you buy seeds from online shops. “Growing from seed opens a whole world of options,” says Kelly Smith-Trimble, author of The Creative Vegetable Gardener.
When buying seeds online, read the product description to learn how to grow them. Look for the “number of days to harvest,” which helps you figure when to plant and when to harvest. Check light needs and climate zones to make sure the seeds will thrive in the location you have in mind.
“Look for varieties that will perform well in your region,” Smith-Trimble says. “Some varieties are bred for specific conditions, whether cold or hot, dry or humid, or for resistance to certain diseases, so it’s important to think about your local environment when buying seed.”
The best places to buy seeds online are jam-packed with garden information—much more than you would get if you went to a brick-and-mortar store. The best sites have video tutorials, articles, and how-tos.
To find the best places to buy garden seeds online we researched a variety of retailers, keeping in mind price ranges, quality, delivery options, and more.
Burpee
Burpee
Why You Should Shop Here: Burpee is one of the nation’s most popular home garden seed companies. They’re known for rolling out new varieties to sell alongside classic favorites.
Keep in Mind: The smallest seed packets Burpee sells have 100 or more seeds. That may be more than you need for small space gardening.
Burpee, founded as a mail order company in 1876 in Pennsylvania by Atlee Burpee, is one of the most popular seed sellers in the country. The company sells reliable seeds for flowers, vegetables, herbs, fruit, and perennials. They also sell heirloom seeds alongside modern varieties.
They also roll out their own innovative hybrids, like the Burpee Big Boy tomato. You can sort searches by whether the seed is organic, heirloom and heat tolerant, among other categories.
You can also find your USDA hardiness zone by typing in your zip code on the home page. Burpee lets you sort through their garden supplies to find products made in the USA.
Keep in mind that the smallest pack of seeds you can order from them is a pack of 100, so you might receive more than you need depending on your spring garden plans.
Park Seed
Park Seed
Why You Should Shop Here: They offer a slew of new varieties each year along with a full line of growing supplies, tools, and bulbs.
Keep in Mind: If you need to make a return, you can only receive store credit.
Park Seed was founded in 1858 in Pennsylvania and is a household name in seed suppliers. They sell hundreds of flower, herb, fruit, and vegetable seeds.
They also sell seed-starting kits—their Bio Dome System makes it easier to grow your own seeds, and it comes in sizes that accommodate between 18 and 60 seedlings.
Like many sellers, Park Seed offers seed collections that are more affordable than they would be if you bought the same seed packets separately. You can find the seeds grouped together by variety and theme on the website.
We also love how easy it is to find seeds for your specific zone. You can find your USDA Zone at the home page by entering your zip code. Once you do that, a checkmark icon that reads “Grows in My Zone” appears on the product image of any plant or seed zoned for your area.
You can also sort seeds by species, uses, and garden trends. If you need seeds in bulk, Park Seed sells packs with up to 10,000 seeds. However, if you need to make a return, you will only receive a store credit instead of a refund.
Eden Brothers
Eden Brothers
Why You Should Shop Here: You can filter more than 650 varieties of flower seeds by bloom color, garden theme, or the problem you are trying to solve.
Keep in Mind: They only sell seeds, so you won’t be able to find accessories like gardening gloves or planter pots on their website.
Eden Brothers sells vegetable and herb seeds, but their flower seed selection is where they shine. Their site makes choosing the right flower for your needs easy, because you can sort seeds by a range of traits from flower color to garden theme.
Whether you are trying to deter deer, attract pollinators, or plant a moon garden, the search and sort feature makes it easy to find the right flower seeds for you. Eden Brothers also sells wildflower seed mixes customized to 11 U.S. states. Each state mix includes seeds for at least 20 native wildflowers so you can plant flowers that thrive in local conditions.
Eden Brothers also has more than 100 varieties of culinary herbs and medicinal herb seeds. They’re one of the best places to buy garden seeds online because they sell heirloom, open-pollinated, rare hybrid and organic herb seeds. If you need accessories, like gardening gloves or a self-watering planter, you will have to shop from another store.
At checkout time, Eden Brothers suggests other varieties of plants that complement the seeds in your cart. You can even add a free gift message to the order if you are sending a gift to your favorite gardener. Standard shipping for a half dozen seed packets is $4.99, but keep in mind that they don’t offer expedited shipping.
Eden Brothers will consider accepting returns on incorrect, defective, or damaged items if returned within 30 days after you get the package. If you change your mind on an item, they will give you a full refund minus shipping costs within 15 days of the package receipt.
Seed Savers Exchange
Seed Savers Exchange
Why You Should Shop Here: Seed Savers has a huge selection of rare and heirloom flower and vegetable seeds.
Keep in Mind: Their seeds are not organized by region, so you cannot enter your growing zone and get a list of plants for your area.
If you want heirloom seeds, Seed Savers is one of the best places to buy garden seeds online. The nonprofit got its start in 1975 as a seed bank for collecting and storing heritage seeds from across the United States. “They wanted to preserve biodiversity and the stories that went with the plants,” Smith-Trimble says.
Seed Savers also offers seed collections that can save you money. They have a pickling collection that includes seeds for dill, 'Detroit Dark' red beet, green beans, 'Chantenay' carrot, and a rare type of jalapeño pepper.
When you buy from Seed Savers, you support their mission to preserve endangered crops and the nation’s food legacy. However, unlike a few other sites on our list, you can’t sort the seeds by your growing zone so it’s not as easy to navigate.
Shipping is free on all orders over $250. You can also choose expedited shipping options with USPS or UPS, with cost based on product weight. You can choose a ship date, too, if you want your seeds to come closer to gardening season.
Seed Savers Exchange allows returns for a full refund, less shipping costs, on unused, unopened and undamaged items returned within 30 days of receipt.
Rare Seeds
Rare Seeds
Why You Should Shop Here: Rare Seeds not only sells heirloom seeds, but also tells the stories behind the plants.
Keep in Mind: This site sells the rare and unusual, so you may not be able to find more common seeds on their site.
Rare Seeds product descriptions are fascinating plant histories, so browsing the site is like leafing through a gardening book. You learn history and horticulture while you shop.
Rare Seeds got its start in 1998 as a hobby for the founder, back when heirloom vegetables were being rediscovered by the gardening public. The Missouri-based company has grown into North America’s largest seller of heirloom seeds and is one of the best places to buy garden seeds online.
Rare Seeds offers a huge selection of 19th-century heirloom seeds from Europe and Asia. They also offer garden supplies, some live plants, essential oils, and sourdough starter. And if you are ordering in the United States, you get free shipping with your purchase.
You can purchase rare vegetable seeds like 'Apricot Zebra' tomatoes, 'Bhut Jalokia' hot peppers, and 'Florenza' sunflowers from Rare Seeds.
Their new offerings for 2024 include 'Giant Bertroua' molokhia, an edible green native to Cameroon that grows up to 10 feet tall, and 'Filderkraut' cabbage, a traditional German cabbage with heads that grow to 10 pounds.
If you are a beginner to gardening and are looking for basic seeds, you may have to look on a different site for those seeds.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Why You Should Shop Here: They sell heirloom and modern varieties, and they have a seed starting calendar on their website.
Keep in Mind: You’ll have to pay a shipping fee to return any items.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds got its start in New Hampshire in 1973, when the company’s founder began selling apple seeds. 51 years later, Johnny’s has become an esteemed plant breeding and growing operation where gardeners can find seeds developed for hardiness and disease resistance.
Over the years they have developed award-winning new varieties like ‘Honey Bear’ winter squash, ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard, and the ‘Baby Bear’ pie pumpkin.
This year’s new varieties include ‘Marmalade Skies,’ an orange tomato that resists blight and ‘Honey Bun’ acorn squash, a striking, variegated dumpling squash that resists powdery mildew.
Johnny’s also has outstanding growing information and gardening tools on the site. They don’t just sell seeds; they tell you how to grow them. Check out their Grower’s Library, which has video tutorials, a glossary of garden terms, planting tools, and calculators to help you figure out many seeds you need for your garden.
We also appreciate that the brand offers same-day shipping, so you don’t have to wait very long to receive your seeds or gardening tools. If you have to return an item, they will credit your original form of payment; however, you will have to pay the shipping fee to return the item.
Ferry-Morse
Ferry Morse
Why You Should Shop Here: They have seeds for flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits at great prices.
Keep in Mind: Most of their standard seed packets have about half as many seeds as many other companies’ standard packets. If you need more than 15 or 20 seeds, you’ll need to buy a couple of packets.
Ferry-Morse, founded in 1856 in Detroit, is the oldest continually operating seeds company in the United States. The company sells organic, heirloom, hybrid and open-pollinated seeds and they are one of the best places to buy garden seeds online because they have some of the lowest prices. Most of their seed packs sell for around $3.
The reason so many of their seeds cost less is because they have fewer seeds in them. Most of their standard seed packets have about half as many seeds as many other companies’ standard packets.
If you need more than 15 or 20 seeds, you’ll need to buy a couple of packets or buy one of their larger sizes. On the flip side, if you have a small space to plant and don’t need 60 seeds, Ferry-Morse will keep you from buying more than you need.
You can sort plants at Ferry-Morse by traits including deer resistance, light needs, height, fruit or flower colors. There’s also a chart that shows you the size of the seeds you’re getting, so you won’t be surprised when you open that packet.
Renee’s Garden
Renee’s Garden
Why You Should Shop Here: The site looks like a garden journal painted by a watercolorist in a cottage garden. Renee's will also give you a store credit if your seeds don't germinate.
Keep in Mind: You may not be able to find as many rare varieties on this site, and they don't offer free shipping on any dollar amount.
Founder Renee Shepherd founded Renee’s Garden in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, she still trials and chooses all the flower seed varieties her company sells.
Renee’s Garden sells open-pollinated and heirloom varieties from around the world, along with exclusive varieties like ‘Ten Week Perfume’ stock and ‘Flashback’ calendula.
She focuses on the sort of nostalgic flowers you’d find in a cottage garden: bluebonnets, delphiniums, forget-me-nots. The selection is heavy on heirlooms, light on modern varieties.
Renee’s also sells vegetable and herb seeds, too. The company’s seed packs are lovely, with watercolor illustrations of the mature plant and instructions written by the gardeners who tried the plants.
This isn’t the place to find a super rare hot pepper bred a century ago in one county in New Mexico, but you can get a Southwestern Chile Trio packet with popular pepper varieties or a Trinidad Scorpion. Renee’s has a small, curated collection that focuses on what’s popular with backyard gardeners.
The site has videos, articles, and even recipes with herbs and vegetables. You can watch tutorials titled “How To Grow Big, Beautiful Zinnias From Seed,” “Flowers for Cutting,” or “Pruning Lavender.” There are recipes for Escarole Soup, green and red tomato sauces and pesto, with links to seeds you’ll need to grow the ingredients.
On the website, the flowers and vegetables are arranged alphabetically in a dropdown menu. The site is easy to navigate because it’s small and focused—it’s like shopping at a digital garden boutique.
Sign up for the newsletter and you’ll get 10% off your first order and notified of sales in the future. Shipping for a half-dozen seed packets is about $7, and they don't offer free shipping for any purchase amount. Shipping rates vary by the amount of purchase, with the average being 20% of your order amount.
If your seeds do not germinate, Renee’s will give you a store credit up to 6 months after purchase. Few online sellers offer such a guarantee.
Prairie Moon Nursery
Prairie Moon Nursery
Why You Should Shop Here: You can choose from a wide collection of native flowers and grasses.
Keep in Mind: They do not accept returned seed after 30 days and charge a 25% restocking fee on all returned seed.
Prairie Moon Nursery specializes in native seeds and seed mixes for specific garden needs. Need flowers that can grow in exposed clay subsoil? How about flowers that grow in standing water? Prairie Moon has it.
The company has more than 700 native wildflower, grass, and sedge seed varieties, making it the best place to buy garden seeds online if you are looking for native plants. There are also specialty mixes for birds and pollinators as well as seeds that produce deer-resistant plants.
You can search and sort plants by bloom time, region to which they are native, height, light needs, and USDA Zone. Product descriptions for seeds include a map showing the plant’s native range, including where the plant lives now and where it lived in the past.
Prairie Moon also sells Eco-Grass, a low-maintenance lawn seed mix that’s an alternative to thirsty, high-maintenance turf grass. Eco-Grass is a mix of native grasses and a blue fescue that can grow with less fertilizer, water, and mowing. It’s a good pick if you are looking to free yourself from a labor-intensive lawn but aren’t ready to replace your grass with a wildflower meadow.
They do not accept returned seed after 30 days and charge a 25% restocking fee on all returned seed.
TrueLove Seeds
TrueLove Seeds
Why You Should Shop Here: They focus on culturally important seeds, offering collections of herbs, vegetables, and flowers from around the world.
Keep in Mind: They do not provide refunds for seeds due to customer ordering errors.
TrueLove Seeds sells seeds with cultural and historical ties to Italy, Syria, Africa, Asia, the Levant, and their home base, Philadelphia. Their African Diaspora collection includes crops like okra, field peas, and peanuts that originated in Africa and were brought to North America.
TrueLove sells vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Browsing the site is like taking a culinary journey around the globe. You can sort seeds by region of origin that have been curated into collections.
TrueLove offer seeds for huacatay, a marigold native to South America that’s used in a Peruvian dish; 'Hopi Dye' sunflower, an Arizona native used by Indigenous peoples to dye wool and baskets; and 'Spotted Aleppo' lettuce, a variety cultivated for thousands of years in the Middle East introduced to the U.S. in the late 1700s.
Truelove works with around 50 small farms around the country, and each farmer grows at least one culturally important variety related to their ancestry. They support small businesses and biodiversity while being one of the best places to buy garden seeds online.
They do not provide refunds for seeds due to customer ordering errors.
The Bottom Line
For a wide selection of flower, herb, and vegetable seeds, shop at Burpee, an online superstore for gardeners who grow from seed. If you want to buy rare seeds and support a seed bank that works to preserve biodiversity, Seed Savers Exchange is the best place to buy seeds online.
What To Know About Buying Seeds Online
Shipping/Delivery
Seeds don’t weigh much unless you are buying in bulk. Standard seed packets weigh 1.5 grams, so you can get a garden’s worth of seeds shipped to you in an oversized envelope for less than $7 or so.
Some online seed sellers offer free shipping on larger orders. Seed Savers Exchange, for example, offers free shipping on orders over $250.
Selection
Online seed sellers’ selections vary. Nearly all sell standard varieties of flower, herb and vegetable seeds. You can get seeds for 'Big Boy' tomatoes, 'Cut and Come Again' zinnias, 'Blue Lake' green beans, and 'Sensation Mix' cosmos at almost every online seed store.
For more unusual seeds, you’ll need to go to sellers that specialize in such items, like Rare Seeds. Generally, online stores offer a wider selection of seeds than brick and mortar stores.
Germination Rates
The germination rate is the estimated percentage of seeds that are alive and viable in a seed lot. The higher the rate, the more of your seeds will sprout into plants. Seed sellers with a good reputation sell fresh seeds with a high germination rate.
The expected germination rate is typically listed on the seed seller’s site or on the seed packet label.
“I typically buy seed from well-known seed companions with a good reputation because I know I will get a high germination rate,” Smith-Trimble says. “Often, the company will tell you what the expected germination rate will be.”
Return Policy
Most online seed sellers will accept returns of unused seeds within 30 days of purchase. Most do not give refunds on seeds that don’t grow, with the exception of Renee’s Garden. This site will give you a store credit if your seeds don't germinate.
Your Questions Answered
Do you need any special tools or equipment to plant seeds?
That depends on the seed. If you are starting seeds indoors, it’s helpful to have a seed starting kit to control temperature and humidity. Depending on how much light you get in your space, you may also want to invest in a grow light.
If you are sowing seeds directly in the garden, you don’t necessarily need any special tools. Just use your fingers to poke a hole in the soil, and drop the seed in the hole.
How do you know how many seeds to buy?
Before purchasing seeds, you'll want to determine where you are planting your seeds (potted planters or garden beds) and what you want to grow. Take into consideration how much space you have to dedicate to your garden.
Some online seed sellers or gardening sites have seed quantity calculators and charts to help you determine the number of seeds you need to plant a given space. To calculate it yourself, use this formula: X = W x L x S
X= number of plants to fill a bed
W= Width of row
L= Length of row
S= Number of plants per square foot
What time of year should you buy seeds?
Winter is the best time of year to buy seeds for summer and spring gardens. That way you are ready to plant them outdoors in the spring, or you can start them indoors in late winter.
Who We Are
Leanne Potts is shelter journalist and master gardener with 30 years of experience writing and researching home and garden products. She has written for HGTV.com, HGTV magazine, Parade magazine, Travel Channel, Lowe’s, Walmart, Sunset, Bob Vila, Zillow, and Better Homes & Gardens. To make this list, she considered each online seller’s selection, reputation, prices, user experience, shipping costs, and return policies. Leanne also consulted Kelly Smith-Trimble, author of The Creative Vegetable Gardener, for her insight into the best places to buy seeds online.
If you have any questions on vegetable seed. We will give the professional answers to your questions.