New seeds for the new year

I’m in my fifteenth year of writing this blog, and I hope you’re still interested in my new seeds for the new year.

Carol and I are going to talk about our seed orders on the Gardenangelists next week, but if you want to listen to this week’s episode, it’s all about gardening stories.

Now about those new seeds

So far, I’ve ordered from three different places.

Let’s start with my Botanical Interests seed order.

Carol Michel and I are affiliates of Botanical Interests, and I appreciate their business model. My seeds came very quickly too.

My favorite plants from Botanical Interests last year were my ‘Phyllis’ marigolds. I saved seeds from these so I don’t need anymore this year, but you should get yours if you’d like them. They sold out last summer. Here are my other new seeds.

• ‘Jazzy Mix’ microgreens

• ‘Alaska’ variegated nasturtium–I love nasturtiums, and ‘Alaska’ has beautiful foliage.
• ‘Crackerjack’ African marigold–planting these with ‘Phyllis’ in front of my tomatoes in 20-gallon Smart Pots again.
• ‘Elves Blend ‘dwarf sunflower–I’m putting dwarf sunflowers in the potager with the lavender because I don’t need that much space for vegetables for just Bill and me. Plus, it should look cool and help pollinators.

• Market Day lettuce mesclun baby greens
• ‘Moss’ curled parsley–I like curly parsley better than flat. I know that’s not the norm.
• ‘Provider’ bush bean–Don’t tell Bill they aren’t ‘Blue Lake.’ I’m putting these in the cold frames/raised beds.
• ‘Sun Gold’ pole cherry tomato–still my favorite gold cherry tomato. I like how BI is calling their tomatoes pole or bush instead of indeterminate/determinate. Smart.

• ‘Sweetie’ pole cherry tomato–red cherry tomatoes because I forgot to plant any last year.
• ‘Tetra’ dill

The next place I visited was Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

• ‘Oklahoma Salmon’ zinnias–the Oklahoma zinnia mix contains varieties that are mildew resistant. Planting zinnias in full sun helps too.
• ‘Oklahoma Pink’ zinnias.
• ‘Oklahoma Carmine’ zinnias, which is my favorite color.
• Choice Mix centaurea (Bachelor’s Buttons)
• ‘Ring of Fire’ sunflower
• ‘Holiday’ sunflower
• ‘Big Smile’ sunflower
• ‘Shishito’ organic pepper–so easy to grow and so great for snacking.
• ‘Dazzling Blue’ kale
• ‘Tendril’ pea shoot–supposed to have more tendrils. These are great in salads and also help the peas stay on the fence.

Then, I went tomato crazy at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I decided not to drive to Tulsa to buy tomato plants this year. Instead, I’m going to start my own tomato and pepper seeds at the end of February or the beginning of March. Some years, I just want to buy plants. Other years, I want to start seeds. Here’s my post about starting tomato seeds. This winter felt very long, and I need to get my hands in potting soil again.

Although there are a lot of tomatoes on this list, I will only choose one or two plants of each variety, and tomato seeds stay viable for a long time. One nice thing about ordering from Baker Creek is free shipping.

• ‘Missouri Pink Love Apple’ tomato–never grown before.
• ‘Wood’s Famous Brimmer ‘tomato–never grown before.
• ‘Blue Beauty’ tomato–never grown before. I’m feeling adventurous I guess.

• ‘Cherokee Purple’ tomato–long time favorite of almost everyone.
• ‘Ananas Noire’ or ‘Black Pineapple’ tomato–never grown before.
• ‘Pink Jazz’ tomato–never grown before.
• Sunrise Bumble Bee tomato–just looked fun.
• ‘Orange Spice’ jalapeño.
• Poblano hot pepper–poblano peppers are among my favorites. I froze a bunch of peppers after roasting last year, and I’m so glad I did. I made this wonderful casserole from them last week.
• ‘Sugar Rush Red’ hot pepper
• ‘Blot’ sweet pepper, a beautiful variety.
• Cubanelle sweet pepper, a favorite variety last year. Very productive.

• ‘Pippin’s Golden Honey’ pepper
• ‘Kee’s Orange’ marigold. I really enjoyed my marigolds in pots last summer.
• ‘Purple Ball’ Basil–I still never Emerald Towers Everleaf basil seeds too.
• ‘Thai Holy Kaprao’ basil–I think holy basil is one of the most beautiful herbs. Bees love it too. Here are four other basils worth growing.

These are my new seed orders so far. I know it looks like a lot, but I have a big garden. As you can see, other than a few cold-weather vegetables and later green beans, my vegetable garden will be mostly tomatoes and peppers. I can buy vegetables at the farmer’s market, and Bill and I have some travel planned this summer.

I hope all of you are starting to think about seeds. I noticed that a lot of flower seeds were already sold out. I’m not buying from floret this year, not because I don’t like her seeds, but I can get some of the same varieties from other vendors. She has plenty of customers.

Let me know how your garden plans are going and don’t forget to place your seed orders soon. To help, here was my last year’s seed order.

Happy Planting!