Mail Order Seed
Seedhunt
Ginny Hunt runs our favorite mailorder seed business, with lists dedicated to California natives as well as salvias from around the world.
Larner Seeds
A native plant nursery in Northern California that also has a mail order seed business, including a focus on butterfly food plants and great seed mixes. Their website is very informational; founder Judith Larner Lowry also has written one of our favorite inspirational books: Gardening With a Wild Heart.
Butterfly Encounters
Specialize in milkweed seeds for raising monarchs. Our favorite is Asclepias curassavica ‘Silky Gold’ variety. (They are a bit pricey, so don’t forget to collect your own seed from your first batch!) See also Milkweed Propagation tips from Monarch Watch; interesting that they also recommend Asclepias curassavica for easy propation and maintenance.
S&S Seeds
A wholesale seed source for those really big jobs. Includes many grasses and wildflower mixes. Their offshoot Albright Seed Company has a slightly more manageable $50 minimum order.
Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley
Comprehensive seed list of California native wildflowers, perennials and shrubs and trees is available from their website (as well as in their gift shop). The printed booklet is updated annually, and their website may be used to check on current availability.
Swallowtail Garden Seeds
Located in Northern California, SGS offer a selection of more than 900 varieties of open-pollinated, untreated vegetable seeds, unusual heirloom and hybrid annual and perennial seeds. We had good luck with their Asclepias (choose A. curassavica or A. tuberosa for LA area) as well as Tithonia.
J. L. Hudson, Seedsman
The Catalog is online and you’re guaranteed to find some unusual stuff. Note that the Organic Seed List comes with “free bonus rant!” (Consider yourself warned.)
