Where to Buy Your Garden Seeds in Canada
If you struggled to get garden seeds last year, or you waited too long, or you couldn’t find the varieties you wanted. You might want to get started a little earlier this year. I’m already hearing stories from gardeners that some places are selling out already. That is kind of mindblowing to me.
A few days ago, I posted about the supplies you’ll need for starting seeds. You can buy most of these, along with seeds, locally. If you want to grow your garden from seeds this year, and you’re not sure where to start, here are some of the different places you can buy seeds locally:
Grocery Stores are hit or miss; you never know what might be available.
Dollar stores around me sell seeds, though germination rates may not be great, and you may not have much choice for specific breeds or types of plants, vegetables, or flowers.
Canadian Tire usually has lots of seeds out by now. They’ll also have most of the other supplies you need for seed starting. They usually have a decent assortment of different flowers and vegetables.
Peavey Mart also sells seeds and seed starting equipment. My Peavey Mart often has a more varied selection of vegetables and flowers than Canadian Tire. They also carry more heirloom seed varieties.
Your local garden center will be one of the best options for buying seeds, especially if you’re a beginner gardener. The staff can offer you specialized advice about what specific varieties grow successfully in your area. They may also carry their own locally grown and collected seed as well, like Hanna’s Seeds in Lacombe does.
Locally, the garden centers that I usually frequent include my favourite, Patio Gardens, then Parkland Garden Center, Market on 12, and Bluegrass Garden Center in Red Deer. There are also MANY other greenhouses in central Alberta, including Coal Trail, Bobtail Nursery, Aspen Greenhouses, Wolfs Botanical, Doef’s Greenhouse, Ever-Green Greenhouse, and more I’m sure I’ve missed. If you think of others I’ve missed, let me know in the comments or on Instagram, I can add them later.
Ordering Garden Seeds Online
Local options give you a chance to read the packages and see all the selections in person. But that’s not the only way. Many people, myself included, order seeds online every year. And there are also many Canadian choices for where to buy seeds. I recommend ordering ASAP since many places are selling out already.
I have personally ordered from T&T, Veseys, Dominion, and West Coast seeds. This year, because we’re not sure if we’ll be here all summer (possibly moving!), we’ve only ordered a few seeds, all stuff that matures quickly, and we ordered from T&T because they had all the things we needed in stock.
Sheryl Normandeau, another excellent garden blogger in Calgary, Alberta and Admin for the awesome Facebook group “Alberta Gardening,” has compiled a complete list of Canadian seed suppliers, sorted by province! So if you’re looking to buy local seeds, that’s your best resource for finding local supplies. You can also check out Sheryl’s blog, Flowery Prose, for lots of helpful gardening and plant information, advice, and excellent writing.