Seed Preview 2012 Part 2

When last I posted about the seed available for 2012, I focused my attention on the local "box" store, Farm & Fleet. While Farm & Fleet has a surprising variety of seed available through the Livingston Seed Company, I knew I needed to make it out to a "real" garden shop.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that Jung Garden Center was advertising that their 2012 seeds had arrived. It was time to pay Jung a visit. Along an entire wall of the store, one can find seed packets for a huge number of plants. Over three quarters of it is vegetable or herb seed; it's a fantastic selection if you are planning to grow your own food. However, this is not our current objective.

Annual and perennial seed packets make up the remaining quarter of the wall. Most of which was annual seed for a variety of invasive plants. The perennials which were available from Jung included invasive plants: like Delphinium, Fox Glove, and Hollyhocks. Jung also had some native plants as well like: Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Milkweed, and Missouri Primrose (this plant was unique to Jung). They have their own cultivar of Lupine, Tutti Frutti.

The real bonus to shopping at Jung is that they carry seed from the Prairie Future Seed Company. It's on a rotating stand and appeared to be fairly picked over, as I only found empty rungs for plants like Cardinal Flower and Joe Pye Weed. This rotating stand had seeds for a cornucopia of native plants including: Blazing Star, Ox Eye Daisy, Goldenrod, and Compass Plant. I picked up some seed incorrectly labeled "Turk's Cap Lily". The scientific name on the package is Lilium Michiganense which means it's actually Michigan Lily, and I picked up some Wild Columbine seed.

While Jung as a seed company isn't providing a lot in the way of native perennials on their own, at least they are catering to those who are interested by selling seed from Prairie Future. If you are looking at replacing your invasive plants, it's a good stand to check-out. The common and scientific names are posted with images of each plant. Selecting some native lilies and irises to replace invasive varieties is made simple, other than needing to start from seed. I'll post about my progress with the lily seeds some time later.

Blue Flag Iris

Michigan Lily

2012 Seed Preview: Part 1

It's mid-way through January, which means stores are starting to stock up on the seeds for 2012. Last year, when we started our wildflower garden in the back, I purchased both seeds and plugs for a variety of native plants including: Blue Lupine, False Indigo, Black-Eyed Susan, Butterfly Milkweed, Prairie Coneflower, Purple Coneflower, and a few others. Most of my purchases last year were made at one of three locations: Farm & Fleet, Jung Garden Center, and Kopke's Greenhouse, so I figured I'd start at these stores again in 2012.

For Part 1, I'll address what's available at Farm & Fleet. Farm & Fleet isn't necessarily geared towards landscaping with native plants, but if you carefully comb through their selection you can find some good options for your garden. It's important to note that they did not appear to have their full stock of seeds out yet, as the only brand I could find was Livingston.

I successfully found some seed to supplement my current plants. In case anything I planted last year fails to come back, I figured picking up a few packs of seed would be a good idea. I found the following:

1. Butterfly Milkweed
2. Black-Eyed Susan
3. False Indigo
4. Purple Coneflower

I had already identified other plants which I wanted to add to our wildflower garden. Specifically I was planning on adding: Bee Balm, Cardinal Flower, Joe-Pye Weed and Lance-leaf Coreopsis. I was only able to find the Bee Balm and Coreopsis.

I did some digging around to see what else they had, but nothing else really caught my eye. They had a variety of different types of sunflower, many of which are not native to the Upper Midwest, some Lupines in a variety of colors (not blue), Baby's Breath, Cosmos, Foxglove, Bachelor's Button, and Blanket Flower (with Blanket Flower being one of the few natives I noticed).

I also picked up some extras while seed shopping at Farm & Fleet, which will help me get things started for the spring. I picked up some Columbine seed (We had some growing wild, so I figured I'd add some additional plants). I picked up a some soil, some biodegradable pots, and a plastic container to get my seeds started.

I left Farm & Fleet with a lot of stuff, but I hadn't spent much money. This is the reason I often return. I can't always find everything I'm looking for here, but I can usually find some of what I'm looking for and at better prices than what I'll get at a true garden shop. I recommend taking the time to browse their seed selection carefully and find the native plants for which you are looking.

Butterfly Milkweed

Purple Coneflower