The Sample Seed Shop

This page contains herbs, edible flowers, and garlic.

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Amaranthus cruentus(A. hypochondriacus) ‘Golden Giant’ AmaGG
Amaranthus is an easy to grow full sun annual closely related to Celosia. Young leaves can be used in salad, the seeds can be used as a grain, or it can just be used as a pretty ornamental. By late summer, this variety grows to 5′ or taller with large plumes that are a golden russet color. This is a great plant to put where late color is lacking in the border. 100+ seeds for $1.00.

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Amaranthus caudatus ‘Red Garnet’ amaRG
This variety had vivid red leaves. It is great for mixing in with regular salad greens. It of course is also great to let grow to maturity where it will make an excellent tall plant in the late summer border. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Anise (Pimpinella anisum) Anise
Anise has a wonderful sweet licorice flavor. It is in the parsley family and has similar foliage. It grows about 2 tall and has white umbel flowers. Sometimes confusion happens between anise and fennel(Foeniculum vulgare.) Fennel develops a bulbous base and has yellow flowers. I personally love anise because it reminds me of Christmas and pizzelles. Using real anise seed ground up or anise liquor as a flavoring is a much better alternative than the anise extract some people use. Besides culinary uses, anise is suppose to aid in digestion and is also used for cold treatments. It can also be grow for the butterfly garden. Annual. Full sun. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Arugula ‘Slow Bolt’ (Eruca sativa)aruSB
I love arugula. If you’ve never had it in salad, it is like spicy baby spinach. It is a cool season crop that bolts(flowers and goes to seed) quickly. So when I saw one named Slow Bolt, I figured it would be good to carry. Any extension on arugula picking time is a good thing. 100+ seeds for $1.

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Basil, Genovese BasGen
By customer request~ An excellent strain of Italian sweet basil. It is strongly scented. Annual. Sun. 100 seeds for $1.

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Basil, Lemon (Ocimum basilicum citriodorum) BasL
Anyone who has brushed the leaves of this plant can tell you how wonderful a scent it is. It is memorable. This and Thai Basil are my favorites. Lemon Basil is not just a novelty scented plant. It goes great in any dish calling for basil. Annual. Sun. 100 seeds for $1.

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Basil, Lime basLim
I’ve not grown this one yet, but lime scent of anything is good for me. (Lime scent makes me think of the Florida Keys which I look forward to visiting every year.) I think this is one to try. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Basil, Thai (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflorum) basTha
This is another favorite basil of mine. It has dark green thinner leaves than regular basil. The spicy scent and flavor is fantastic. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Borage (Borago officinalis) BorOff
Borage has the most amazing blue flowers. Sorry for my very poor out of focus pic. It is the only one I have, but at least you can see the true blue color. The flowers have a cucumber like flavor and can be added to salads. The young leaves can also be added to salad. As the leaves age they get prickly. 75+ seeds for $1.

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Cardoon ‘Giant Roman’ (Cynara cardunculus) Z7/8cardGR
Cardoon is related to artichokes and has a similar taste. Instead of eating the flower buds(artichokes,) you eat the stalks. I love it! My recipe is found on the Remy’s Recipes Page. Many gardeners grow cardoon as just an ornamental. It has silvery leaves and looks like a giant thistle. For growing as an edible, about a month before harvesting, people wrap the stalks in paper or burlap,tie that in place and mound up soil around that. For more info on growing cardoon click here. 25+ seeds for $1.50.

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Celery ‘Amsterdam Cutting’(Apium graveolens) celAC
This leafy celery is much easier to grow than the regular stalk celery. The leaves have a strong celery taste. They are great for flavoring soups, stews, etc. Amsterdam Cutting Celery would look great in a herb garden, even a flower border plant as shown in my photo with the Daylily ‘Ice Carnival’. This plant is listed as a biennial, but mine has been perennial so far. Maybe in the proper conditions it will live more than 2 years. 50 seed for $1.

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Chicory(Italian Dandelion) ‘Red Rib’ aka ‘Italico/Italiko Rosso’(Cichorium intybus) chicRS
Grow your own weeds! No, no I’m kidding. Italian dandelion look similar to the lawn weeds, but it is not the same genus of plants. Chicory or Endive as it is called in these parts will grow to about a foot tall. It is an excellent green. You can eat it in salad or cook it. I like growing the red stemmed variety because you can easily identify it once growing (you know it isn’t a weed!) It also looks more ornamental (neighbors and relatives won’t think you are growing weeds!) It is easy to grow like lettuce.
100+ seeds for $1.

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Chives, regular(Allium schoenoprasum) chiRG.
This perennial is often found in herb gardens or flower borders. Its lavender blooms grace the garden in late spring. It will develop into a nice clump in the garden. As with other onion family plants, remove flower heads after blooming if you don’t want re-seeding. 50+ seeds for $1.

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Chives, Garlic(Allium tuberosum) chiGA.
This perennial has flat leaves that taste of garlic of course. Unlike many other onion family plants, it blooms in the fall. It is shown to the left blooming in a flower border with Fall blooming Colchicum. As with other onion family plants, remove flower heads after blooming if you don’t want re-seeding. 50+ seeds for $1.

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Coriander/Cilantro ‘Leisure’ (Coriandrum sativum) CilLeis
This variety of coriander was bred for slower bolting(flowering and going to seed) so its use as cilantro is extended. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Dill ‘Dwarf Fernleaf’ (Anethum graveolens) DilDwFe
This dill only grows to 18″ or so. It is great for containers. 1992 AAS winner. Full sun annual.
100 seeds for $1.00.

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Dill ‘Frank’s Extra Large’ DilFEL
This dill seed comes via Mike C. a Tomatoville friend. It is from the hills of WV and has been self-seeding for at least 17 years. This is what Mike had to say, “It has always been larger, much larger, than the Mammoth I grew as a kid. It runs up to 7 feet tall, most is in the five to six foot range. It is possibly a cross of Mammoth and what ever the owner before Frank had planted (which could have been here for at least another 15 years…he never replanted, but didn’t know/remember what or if he actually had planted any particular variety and if he hadn’t then it was from the owners before him and that could stretch back to the late 1800s).
It holds its scent/flavor well when dried. We have some seed that is two or three years old that is still pretty strongly scented (I used some of it early in the summer for rye bread and it was still very strongly flavored)…the ‘weed’ keeps a good scent when dried, too. ”
When Mike told me about the dill, I definitely thought it was a great dill variation to get out to the general public. 100+ seeds for $1.

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Dill ‘Mammoth’ DilMam
This variety had been around for quite some time. From what I can tell this is the same variety as ‘Long Island Mammoth’. It is quick to grow to about 3-4′ and produce big flower umbels so you will have more than enough for pickling. Dill is also a host plant for Swallowtail butterflies as seen in my pic taken earlier this year. 100 seeds for $1.

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Garlic, Bulbils ‘Nia~wanda Park’ Z5 maybe lower GarBul
A long time ago, Gary found a large stand of hard neck rocambole garlic growing along the Niagara River in Nia~wanda Park. Though I have purchased other garlic, this became our staple variety. It is exceptionally hardy, long storing for a hardneck and is tasty too. The Niagara region was inundated with immigrants from Italy, Poland, and Germany about 100 years ago. I’m figuring the garlic was an escapee from someone’s garden. Though I’ve grown quite a few garlics, none have been a match, but there are a lot of strain of garlic out there! When first pulled from the soil, the outer wrapper has some purple striping, but it will fade with drying and become white. The inner clove wrappers keep the darker coloration. The variety is quite hardy, being I once left a bulb out on the back driveway all winter. It all sprouted in the spring.
Growing garlic from bulbils is very economical, but of course take more patience. The bulbs will take 2 years to develop into decent size bulbs. You can of course harvest some after a year to get a taste. They do taste great, but are smaller than if you let them go another year. 2 heads of bulbils for $1.25.

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Lemon Grass, East Indian (Cymbopogon Flexuosus) Z11 LemGra
Lemon grass smells fantastic. It is used in many asian dishes, but is also excellent in tea. Besides its culinary uses,it is also a mosquito repellent. It is easy to grow in pots and overwinter inside. The photo of Gary with giant rosemary plant(amazing isn’t it!) and lemon grass in front is the only pic I have. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Lovage (Levisticum officinale) Z3 Lovage
Lovage is a perennial herb with leaves that can be used for celery flavor in soup, stew, or anything that calls for celery. The seed can also be used. It is easy to grow, and it can grow! Don’t be fooled its first or second year when it is only a few feet high. It can grow up to 9′ when it blooms. I would say mine is just about that. Full sun to part shade. Winter Sow or plant seed in the garden in early spring. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Nasturtium ‘Alaska Mix’ (Tropaeolum majus) NastAM
Pictured at the top of this page, this variety is quite attractive. The leaves are marbled green and white and are very tasty to mix in to a salad. They have a strong peppery flavor akin to watercress or arugula. The flower color varies from cream through to red. This variety is a short mounding type good for in the ground or pot. Nasturtiums don’t like summer heat. I’ve found growing them in the part shade works well during the hot months. 30+ seeds for $1.50.

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Nasturtium ‘Cherry Rose’ (Tropaeolum majus) NastCR
This is the nasturtium for those of you who want a pinky hue instead of the normal tomato red that these flowers have. Growing to about 12″ with green leaves, they are good for the pot or border edge. 30 seeds for $1.50.

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Nasturtium ‘Empress of India’ (Tropaeolum majus)NastEOI
This variety has deep red flowers and solid blue-green leaves. Spreading up to 2′ it is a great variety for hanging baskets or planters. 30 seeds for $1.50.

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Nasturtium ‘Glorious Gleam Mix’ NastGGM
This is a trailing variety to almost 3′. The flowers are yellow, orange and red, and the leaves are medium-green. 30 seeds for $1.50.

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Naturtium ‘Jewel Mix’ (Tropaeolum majus) NastJM
This mix contains semi-double flowers in shades from pale yellow to orange to deep red. Plants average 1-1 1/2 feet. 30 seeds for $1.50.

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Oregano, Greek (Origanum Heracleoticum) Z5 oreGr
This oregano smells great. This variety has white flowers and is not as rampant a grower as the more common pink flowered Italian oregano. Though I’m Italian, I confess to liking this variety better. Full sun. Perennial.100+ seeds for $1.00.

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Pansy ‘Swiss Giant Mix’ can be found on the Buy Annuals Page.
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Parsley, Flat Leaf ‘Italian Dark Green’ (Petroselinum crispum) Z5?ParFlat
This is a staple variety of parsley. Known for its stronger flavor, it is preferred for cooking. I consider curly leaf parsley just a plate garnish. It is grown as an annual herb, but it can be over wintered here in zone 6 for seeds the following year. I’ve found conflicting info on how hardy it is. If you live in a colder place and overwinter it, let me know. Full Sun. Biennial. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Sage, Culinary (Salvia officinalis) Z5Sage
I’ve been growing sage for a long time. It is easy to start from seed. Like many salvias, it needs good drainage to overwinter. My favorite use of the leaves is to place them under the skin of a roasting chicken before cooking. 100 seeds for $1.00.

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Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) Z5 SalScla
This salvia has been used as an healing herb for a long time. Many now grow it just as an ornamental. It is pretty in flower. It grows about 3′ tall. Biennial. Full sun. 25 seeds for $1.00.

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Scutellaria lateriflora (Mad Dog Scullcap) Z5? ScutL
This plant has small blue flowers that grow laterally on the stems. It is not very showy. Its strength is in its medicinal uses. Perennial. Native to N. America. 25+ seeds for $1.

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I Need Them Now! INTN.
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