Reputable sellers of tree seeds online? Any suggestions?

9 years ago

I'd like to start ordering seeds of trees I can't find locally, and constantly see numerous options on Ebay for fairly low prices.

Can anyone point me towards a dealer of tree and shrub seeds that they've had good luck with?

Thanks!

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User

5 years ago

Will concur with Sheffields but have also used B&T World seeds. My first lot of tree seeds came from Nicky's nursery (UK)...which was excellent value.

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Comments (10)

brandon7 TN_zone7
9 years ago
- Sheffield's Seed Company ( sheffields.com ) is the leader in tree and shrub seeds. They have a very good Garden Watchdog rating, and I've always had fairly good results from orders I've made through them.

Other potential sources include:
- F. W. Schumacher ( www.treeshrubseeds.com ) with a very good G. WD. rating,
- Sparkleberry Springs ( www.sparkleberrysprings.com ) with a limited but excellent G. WD. rating,
- TreeSeeds.com ( www.treeseeds.com ) with a limited but excellent G. WD. rating,
- Angelgrove Tree Seed Co. ( www.trees-seeds.com ) with an excellent G. WD. rating, and
- Lawyer Nursery ( www.lawyernursery.com ) with a so-so G.WD. rating.
Addison in VT z4a
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Treeseeds.com seems suddenly out of business. My last order didn't show up. I tried emailing, calling. The number was disconnected. Checked Dave's Garden. I am not the only one. But, the site still seems to be up and taking orders last I checked.

Edit: Sheffield's and F. W. Schumacher are my go-to seed sellers. I was hoping to find more here. Tree-seeds.com wont load in my browser. Sparkleberry gives me a 404 error.
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the two best places to purchase your seeds are Sandhill Preservation Fedco Seeds Johnnys will give you immediate shipment. This is not the expected time to purchase so many places are selling their seeds at discount now. It is very late for seeds. You might try Home Depot and Wal Mart they should have seeds in boxes now. ask for them. Some home depot do deep discount. Christmas Tree shops sell discounted seeds out of season real cheap. You might want to wait and get them from Sandhill either this year or next year. they require you mail in a check. but they are super company. Fedco is great. they have the best prices and quality. they will accept a credit card over the internet. These guys are super honest. very low shipping charges too. Johnnys is good year around seller. but a bit more expensive than fedco. Johnnys has extensive trials. they are a super full service company with a great reputation who stands behind everything. prices are more average. Burpee is very expensive. And I do not think as good a quality as Johnnys at all. They have just gone into mass marketing and have lost a lot in the transition in my opinion. I would skip on Burpee.
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In other words regardless of source, are all Better Boy F1 seeds created equal? _________ With that particular variety since it is well stabilized, likely so since the seeds from all the common hybrids are usually purchased by the reputable commercial suppliers from just a few grower sources and then re-sold to the public. Of course that would not be the case if you buy from individual sellers (IE: those on ebay, amazon, etc.) so you need to stick with reputable vendors. But that is NOT true for all varieties. There are literally 100's of hybrid varieties where the quality all depends on the source of the seed. You can find any number of discussions about reputable dealers and non-reputable seed dealers discussed on the Growing Tomatoes forum here. My personal preferences are tomatogrowers.com and tomatofest.com Dave
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That seeds come from China isn't necessarily a bad thing unless you are worried about American customs. A lot of seeds that are sold by American professional companies are harvested in China and shipped to the USA. One problem related to buying seeds from China is getting the correct seeds. You have to be alert when buying seeds on Ebay et. al. If you buy for instance Magnolia seeds that are not properly stored (cold and moist) or are old the chances of getting decent germination are greatly reduced. Some species must be sown fresh so only buy them 'in season' (usually late autumn/early winter). Empress tree seeds are not hard to find (look at Ebay and you find lots of sellers). I believe Empress tree seeds should be surface sown because they need light to germinate. Don't know if it is sufficiently hardy where you live. Here in the Netherlands (solid zone 7) it suffers from dieback in winter but maybe that's because the wood doesn't ripen very well in our climate.
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I have seen some on Etsy. starter plants: https://www.etsy.com/listing/477576733/nikko-blue-hydrangea-5-pack-linerstarter?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=hydrangea%20starter&ref=sr_gallery_2 cuttings: https://www.etsy.com/listing/234861070/hydrangea-cuttingswater-and-shade?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=hydrangea%20cutting&ref=sr_gallery_2
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HU-81742400
5 years ago
arg42; I am going through the same issues treeseeds.com took my money and has not sent my seeds. It has been 2 weeks, and when I called the number on their site, I get a message that the number is not a working number! Already send info to the federal trade commission, next is consumer protection, and BBB.
Addison in VT z4a
5 years ago
If you're in Europe then OMC Seeds, and Plant World Seeds are good, too. As a US citizen, it's hit or miss when you order overseas: most of the time, the seeds will arrive without incident; every so often, you will get a letter indicating that your seeds were seized by customs.
Mike Fuller
3 years ago
Treeseeds.com would not respond to any of my 4 emails, 2 voicemails, even filling out the contact us page in order to change my shipping option. I finlly had enough and emailed through paypal asking to canel and refund. I filed a dispute with PayPal and then all of a sudden he cteated a label with tracking about 20 mins after disputing.

How coincidental......

I responded back through paypal thsatI didn't want his produxt anymore since it was 13 days since order placed. I emailed twice stating as such and no response. Working with paypal was also a joke. They denied me stating he sent a tracking. This seller is completely shady and not reputable. I have initiated a chargeback on my card. Hopefully this will finally be resolved.

As a side note I ordered from sheffields seeds after this debacle and it was great. The seed looks great and was very well packaged.
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Arbiten Group
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Hello

We are a big company in Iran

We export various trees as seedlings all over the world

We will send you any trees and plants you ask us for

With the best quality and the most reasonable price
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Rockyrhodesdesigns.com
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Do not trust treeseeds.com sc a mmer drug addict check BBB
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last year
It has become increasingly difficult to buy seeds abroad as both the USA and the EU have tightened rules and control is more intensive. Without a phytosanitary certificate customs can seize your seeds and destroy them. Many seed companies do not want the hassle of acquiring a phytosanitary certificate and do not send seeds outside the USA or the EU.

I do not trust the sellers on Ebay because many sell seeds not true to name or sell old seeds that won 't germinate in a million years. Some seeds need cold AND moist storage otherwise these loose viability really quick (magnolia seeds for example). Many companies do not store these seeds the right way and the consequence is that the germination percentage is very low (or zero).

My 20 year experience is that many seed sellers have a limited knowledge of the seeds they sell. Take for example Acer griseum. If seeds are harvested from a stand alone specimen the chance is very great that the majority of the seeds are empty. Seeds of Acer griseum should be harvested from a number of trees that are in close proximity to each other.

A 'cut test' to determine viability percentage is not always useful. Some species have seeds with embryo defects (Lindera, Sassafras) and although looking alright won't germinate.

My best germination results I always get with seeds that I harvested myself and sow within a week after harvesting.

Reputable sellers of tree seeds online? Any suggestions?

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Comments (10)

brandon7 TN_zone7

Addison in VT z4a

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