The BEST Places to Buy Cut Flower Garden Seeds
I love growing cut flowers in our backyard and have been growing them for years. We have tested out many different companies and have found the best places to buy cut flower garden seeds.
The best places to buy cut flower garden seeds are Johnny’s Seed, Swallowtail Garden Seeds, and Floret Flowers. The seeds that come from the big box stores are nice but if you are looking for more variety and beautiful blooms then you are going to want to order your seeds from Johnny’s, Swallowtail Garden Seeds or Floret Flowers.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
You can’t go wrong with any of these companies. Each company has a few different varieties so don’t be afraid to shop around. If you are ordering seeds you will want to order early because the favorites sell out quickly.
Best Seed Companies
Johnny’s Seed
At Johnny’s Seeds, you’ll find beautiful and on-trend colors and varieties. Excellent selection and good prices. Get your vegetable seeds there too, as the selection is very impressive. Johnny’s Seeds offers different quantities of seeds for flower farmers or home gardeners. I often miss when Floret’s seeds go on sale and have come to love Johnny’s, often just purchasing from them.
Floret Flowers
Floret Flowers is a small-scale flower farm and has become widely popular due to their flower farming books. They have become the go-to seed company for beautiful, on-trend flowers. If you are planning on purchasing from Floret, I highly suggest signing up for their newsletter so you will know when their seeds are available.
The most popular varieties sell out FAST. So fast that if you don’t purchase on the opening day, you might not get what you want. They also ship to Canada, but some varieties are not allowed to cross the border.
Swallowtail Garden Seeds
Swallowtail Garden Seeds is based in the US. Their selection is impressive and there are quite a few varieties that I didn’t see anywhere else in my research.
Must-haves for me include cupcakes pink zinnias, Queen lime with blotch zinnias, Gypsy charmer sunflower, and anything in the twinny snapdragon series. I have also purchased yarrow from them and have had great success.
Select Seeds
Select Seeds also has an impressive variety of unusual and on-trend cut flowers. The Apricot Lemonade Cosmos are a must-have that I haven’t seen on any other seed companies page. There are over 50 varieties of zinnias and I really need the Frosted Salmon Poppy for my garden. The rare finds section is also worth a look.
How to Choose Which Seeds to Order
Buying Seeds vs Seedlings
There are so many benefits to starting flowers from seed. First, you get get more bang for your buck in terms of the cost per plant. With seeds you could grow 5x what you would buy from the store for under $5 for the seeds and materials. And if you reuse your supplies you are saving even more.
The other major benefit of buying cut flower seeds is you can be more selective about the variety and colors. Most greenhouses are going to stock only the biggest sellers so if you are looking for a specific queen lime zinnia for example, your best bet is to start from seed.
Things to Consider When Buying Seeds
There are so many cut flower sources available and I’ve shopped from so many. The biggest thing I look for when ordering from a cut flower seed company is:
- Do they ship to my growing zone?
- Do they offer a discount or free shipping if I buy a certain amount?
- Do they have a majority of what I’m looking for?
- Do the reviews talk about germination success?
- Does the company offer any sort of guarantee?
There is no right or wrong answer in deciding where to purchase annual cut flower seeds for the year. Do your research and pick what is going to work best for you and your garden. Likely the more you get into gardening you will start to accumulate a collection of seeds. By keeping them organized you will know what seeds you have and which ones you need to buy more of. You can see how we organize our seeds by reading How to Organize & Store Your Garden Seeds.
What to Plant in a Cutting Garden
Seed catalogs and websites can be overwhelming!! They have so many varieties and so much information about their seeds. I remember my frist year buying seeds and just buying because they looked pretty. I got beautiful flowers but with a little more planning research my bouquets would have been well rounded.
If just looking at all of the varieties and options is overwhelming you, I suggest checking out How to Start a Cutting Garden. It will walk you through different varieties and help you plan out your cut flower garden.
You can also cut out my Cutting Garden Course for more details on how to set up a cutting garden for success.
The Cutting Garden
Our beginner gardening course for anyone who wants to grow beautiful flowers in their backyard and fill all of the vases in their home.
When is the Best Time to Purchase Cut Flower Seeds
Typically January – March is the best time to shop online for seeds because a lot of growing or seed starting seasons start in April. Floret is a very popular seed company and one that I like to order from. She usually announces on social media and in her email newsletter when her seeds go on sale. They go FAST so you are going to want to pay attention. Sign up for her newsletter and follow her on Social Media to make sure you don’t miss the release.
If you’re looking for perennials, dahlias, or ranunculus they often go on sale in the fall around September/October and will be shipped out in the spring. You can still usually purchase them in the spring, but the most popular varieties are usually not available.
If you are overwhelmed with the number of beautiful cut flowers that you can choose from AND want to ensure that you have a variety of blooms to make those beautiful bouquets then you are going to want to check out my eBook Planting Beautiful Bouquets.
