Rare and Hard-to-Find Perennial Seed Sources
Eric Toesnmeier, author of Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener’s Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles, knows the value of a good seed source. So, to encourage interesting selections for your food garden this summer, we thought we’d post this helpful seed source appendix from Perennial Vegetables.
From the book:
Perennial vegetables can be hard to find. The nurseries and seed companies that stock them are usually small and run by highly dedicated enthusiasts. In some cases only one or two companies in North America offer the species you are looking for. Be prepared for some quirky or technical catalogs—but ones that are chock-full of fascinating plants. Someday perennial vegetables may be available through mainstream companies. While this will help many more people grow them, please don’t forget the pioneering companies and organizations that first made these crops available to you.
During the course of writing this book two of the finest perennial vegetable nurseries—Oregon Exotics and Future Foods—went out of business. This should be a lesson to us all not to hold back on ordering something rare, because it may be very difficult to find it again if a company goes under.
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AgroHaitai Ltd. P.O. Box 78051 Hamilton, Ontario L9C 7N5 Canada (519) 647-2280 Asian vegetables including fragrant spring tree, water spinach, and winged bean. |
J. D. Andersen Nursery 2790 Marvinga Ln. Fallbrook, CA 92028 (949) 361-3652 www.jdandersen.com Tremendous banana selection for California. |
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Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds 2278 Baker Creek Rd. Mansfield, MO 65704 (417) 924-8917 Many perennial vegetables including such rarities as ‘Day Length Neutral’ winged beans, green hyacinth beans, and goldenberry. |
Bamboo Garden Nursery 1507 Southeast Alder St. Portland, OR 97214 (503) 647-2700 Hardy bamboos. |
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Bamboo Headquarters (866) 293-2925 www.bambooheadquarters.com Excellent selection of bamboos for California. |
The Banana Tree 715 Northampton St. Easton, PA 18042 (610) 253-9589 Specializing in unusual tropical plants including many banana varieties as well as air potato. |
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Edible Plant Project Volunteer-run nursery propagating useful perennials adapted to northern Florida. Sales through Gainesville farmers’ market. |
Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) 17391 Durrance Rd. North Fort Myers, FL 33917 (239) 543-3246 ECHO is one of the best sources for tropical perennial vegetables. Their seed company ships anywhere, but unfortunately to get plants from their nursery you need to go there in person. ECHO has a wider selection of rare useful plants that are shipped free to development projects in developing countries, but are not available elsewhere due to limited seed availability. |
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Evergreen YH Enterprises P.O. Box 17538 Anaheim, CA 92817 (714) 637-5769 Asian vegetable seeds including many perennials. |
Fedco Seeds P.O. Box 520 Waterville, ME 04903 (207) 873-7333 Sunchokes, shallots, good king Henry, and more. |
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Florida Bamboo Company Gainesville, FL (352) 665-2175 Clumping bamboos for tropical and subtropical Florida. Not mail order. |
G&N Ramp Farm Box 48 Richwood, WV 26261 (304) 846-4235 Specializing in ramps; also offering several booklets on growing and cooking with ramps. |
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Heronswood Nursery 7530 Northeast 288th St. Kingston, WA 98346 (360) 297-4172 Fascinating collection, including udo and fuki. |
Horus Botanicals HCR Route 82, Box 29 Salem, AR 72576 Fascinating collection of useful plants, including many rare tropical vegetables. |
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J. L. Hudson Star Route 2, Box 337 La Honda, CA 94020 “Native plants from around the world,” including chufa and others. Authors of Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience. |
Johnny’s Selected Seeds 955 Benton Ave. Winslow, ME 04901 (207) 861-3900 Wide range of vegetables, including many perennials. [Ed. Note: Works closely with our author Eliot Coleman, of Four-Season Harvest and The New Organic Grower] |
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Karchesky Canna Collection (724) 466-0979 Offering achira (edible canna), which they call “anchiras.” |
Lilypons Water Gardens 6800 Lilypons Rd. P.O. Box 10 Adamstown, MD 21710 (800) 999-5459 Aquatic vegetables like water celery and arrowhead. |
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Moore Water Gardens P.O. Box 70 4683 Sunset Rd. Port Stanley, ON N5L 1J4 Canada (519) 782-4052 Fine selection of edible aquatic plants. |
Mountain Gardens 546 Shuford Creek Rd. Burnesville, NC 28714 (828) 675-5664 Large collection of useful plants. |
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Occidental Arts and Ecology Center 15290 Coleman Valley Rd. Occidental, CA 95465 (707) 874-1557 Many species adapted to California, including tree collards and Andean root crops. On-site sales only. |
Peace Seeds 2385 Southeast Thompson St. Corvallis, OR 97333 (541) 752-0421 Numerous interesting plants, including achira. |
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Perennial Pleasures P.O. Box 147 East Hardwick, VT 05836 (802) 472-5104 Hardy perennials, including a superior skirret clone. |
Peters Seed and Research P.O. Box 1472 Myrtle Creek, OR 97457 (541) 874-2615 www.psrseed.com They breed their own unique varieties of perennial vegetables including perennial grains and brassicas. |
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Plant Delights Nursery 9241 Sauls Rd. Raleigh, NC 27603 (919) 772-4794 “Tropicalesque” hardy plants for colder climates. |
Pond Plants and More P.O. Box 155 Bentleyville, PA 15314 (724) 239-6673 Aquatic vegetables including water mimosa and water chestnut. |
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Richters Herbs P.O. Box 26 Goodwood, ON LOC 1AO Canada (905) 640-6677 Fantastic catalog offering many perennial vegetables. |
Rivenrock Gardens c/o John & Vickie Dicus P.O. Box 196 Nipomo, CA 93444 Specializing in spineless nopale cactus varieties. |
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Sand Hill Preservation Center 1878 230th St. Calamus, IA 52729 (563) 246-2299 Many neat crops, including incredible diversity in sweet potato varieties. |
Seeds of Diversity Canada P.O. Box 36, Station Q Toronto, ON M4T 2L7 Canada (866) 509-SEED Sea kale, skirret, groundnut, and more. |
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Seed Savers Exchange 3094 North Winn Rd. Decorah, IA 52101 (563) 382-5990 Grassroots network of seed savers sharing seeds and plants by mail. The “Miscellaneous” section of their annual yearbook includes many rare perennial vegetables. Joining SSE is highly recommended! SSE also has a much more limited commercial catalog of seed varieties for sale; don’t confuse this with their full listing of thousands of varieties, which is only available to members. Listing an astounding 11,848 varieties in 2006. |
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange P.O. Box 460 Mineral, VA 23117 (540) 894-9480 Collection of varieties adapted to the hot, humid South, including multiplier onions. |
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Sow Organic Seed P.O. Box 527 Williams, OR 97544 (888) 709-7333 www.organicseed.com Andean tubers and more. |
Taro and Ti Lakeland, FL (877) 889-5088 Specializing in edible taro varieties including low-oxalate “luau leaf” types needing only minimal cooking. |
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Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants Monticello P.O. Box 316 Charlottesville, VA 22902 (804) 977-9821 Crops grown by Jefferson, including edible hibiscus and heirloom lima and scarlet runner varieties. |
Tripple Brook Farm 37 Middle Rd. Southampton, MA 01073 (413) 527-4626 Great selection of useful cold-hardy plants, many perennial vegetables. |
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Underwood Gardens 1414 Zimmerman Rd. Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 338-6279 Many interesting plants, including cranberry hibiscus. |
USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) www.ars-grin.gov National collection of plant materials for hundreds of crops and thousands of wild crop relatives. Free seeds and plants available for research purposes (including backyard research). Includes rarities like saltbush and earthnut pea. |
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Van Bourgondien P.O. Box 1000 Babylon, NY 11702 (800) 622-9997 Source for the day-length-neutral mashua cultivar ‘Ken Aslet’. |
Van Engelen Inc. 23 Tulip Dr. P.O. Box 638 Bantam, CT 06750 (860) 567-8734 Bulk bulb purchases; excellent camass prices. |
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Agrinom LLC Box 174, 31–469 Mamalahoa Hwy. Hakalau, Hawaii 96710 (808) 963 6771 www.agrinom.com Authors of the excellent Tropical Perennial Vegetable series. On-site sales only. |
Fukuda Seed Store, Inc. 1287 Kalani St. Honolulu, HI 96817 (808) 841-6719 Sole legal source of water spinach seed in the United States. |
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Gaia Yoga Nursery RR2 No. 3334 Pahoa, HI 96778 (808) 965-5664 Breadfruit, bamboos, perennial leaf crops, and more. |
La‘Akea Gardens P.O. Box 1071 Pahoa, HI 96778 (808) 443-4076 Permaculture nursery featuring many perennial vegetables. |
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Agroforestry Research Trust 46 Hunters Moon Dartington, Totnes Devon, TQ9 6JT England +44 (0) 1803 840776 Research center with nursery and seed company, featuring useful plants for cool temperate climates. |
B&T World Seeds Paguignan 34210 Aigues-Vives France 00 33 (0) 4 68 91 29 63 Unbelievable seed company offering 35,000 listings. If no one else has it, B&T usually does, though it may take them awhile to track it down. |
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Chiltern Seeds Bortree Stile Ulverston Cumbria LA12 7PB England Many species including good king Henry and sea kale. |
Doubleday Research Heritage Seed Library c/o Garden Organic Ryton Organic Gardens Coventry Warwickshire CV8 3LG England www.gardenorganic.uk.org Rare seeds available to members, including branching bush kales like ‘Dorbenton’. |
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Earthcare Enterprises P.O. Box 500 Maleny, Queensland 4552 Australia 07 5499 9599 Great bamboos, achira, taro, cassava, water chestnut, and more. |
Herb Garden and Historical Plants Nursery Pentre Berw, Gaerwen Anglesey LL60 6LF Wales 01248 422208 Many interesting plants, including saltbush and wild cabbage. |
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Poyntz field Herb Nursery Black Isle By Dingwall IV7 8LX Ross & Cromarty Scotland +44 (0) 1381 610352 Offerings include sea kale, oca, mashua. |
Recommended Reads
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Perennial Vegetables
From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious and Easy to Grow Edibles
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