Native Seed Sources 2012

It’s that wonderful time of year when flower catalogs arrive daily on the doorstep. What a world of possibility exists in them! I have spent almost four weeks poring over the beautiful pictures and tempting descriptions. Fortunately or unfortunately, it is now time to be more hard-nosed about what I can actually grow, and I have started ordering. Because it is hard to find seeds for native edible plants, I thought that you folks might like to know where I am getting mine.

I just ordered a bunch of wildflowers from Prairie Moon Nursery for the meadow garden I’m making in the backyard. Some of them are edible, like Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum). I also bought a packet of Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), that I plan to grow hydroponically in troughs. As a bonus, they also sent a *FREE* packet of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). I may not use these seeds, as I was going to liberate some locally growing milkweed from my neighbor’s meadow down the street instead. I really like Prairie Moon; their seeds are high quality, their prices reasonable, and their service is prompt.

Last time I grew Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), I got tubers from Whole Foods and planted them. They grew very well. I would do that again except that Whole Foods doesn’t seem to be carrying them at present. So I will be ordering Jerusalem Artichokes from Nichols Garden Nursery. Other companies have Jerusalem Artichokes also (like Johnny’s or Shumway’s), but they will only ship them in the fall. Nichols will ship them in April.

Nichols also carries Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), which is one of my all-time favorite spring salad greens. My kids love it too – it grows abundantly, and they go out to the garden and graze on it straight off the plant. Johnny’s carries Miner’s Lettuce also, but it is more expensive.

I won’t get these until fall, but I order Camas (Camassia species) from John Scheeper’s. They have high quality bulbs and pretty good prices too.

This year, I’m trying something new with Yampa (Perideridia gairdneri). This is a western plant used for its root. It is really hard to find seed sources for this, but I did find it at From the Forest using Google. I have never ordered from this person before; I will let you know how it comes out!