Seeds please! 21 Canadian sellers to order from for all your planting needs

Snow may still be falling in many parts of the country, but we're quickly nearing the spring equinox. It's time to plan out this year's gardens, which includes picking new seeds for the growing season ahead. How exciting!

Perhaps you've dried and saved seeds from last year's harvest, or you plan to attend a local Seedy Saturday. But if browsing online is more your thing, we've compiled a list of businesses across Canada you can order from. Many of them also sell all the gardening essentials on your list: soil, bulbs, tools, trees and a variety of other live plants. 

If you're new to planting, or could use a bit of a refresher, here's our guide to growing vegetables from seed (garden pro Tara Nolan shares everything you need to know about sowing seeds and nurturing your plants once they sprout). 

You may also want to consult this helpful map of Canada's plant hardiness zones to determine if the plants that catch your eye, as you browse the seed shops below, are suited to your area. 

Blazing Star Wildflower Seed Company

This company specializes in wildflower seeds that are native to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and are "proudly grown in Saskatchewan." On its site, flowering seeds are sorted into helpful categories based on their colour; bloom time; whether they're edible or suitable for making tea; and what garden friends they attract, such as butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. 

McKenzie

This Brandon, Man., business has been around since 1896. Its 2022 catalogue features many favourites of gardeners, with a special section dedicated to spring planting. If you plan to use containers this season, McKenzie has also highlighted which of its products grow well in them on its site. 

Norwegian Creek Farm

A great shop for garlic lovers (not so great for any vampires shopping online), Norwegian Creek Farm is known for its many varieties of the popular allium. With over 86 kinds to choose from, you'll probably spot something new to you. And while garlic is generally one to plant in the fall, the company's site offers an in-depth growing guide that specifies the conditions that will allow you to plant cloves this spring.  

Veseys

This popular East Coast purveyor of seeds, bulbs and all things gardening has been around since 1939. New to its online collection are seeds from the Rio Carnival F1 sunflower, a pollen-free variety with flowers that grow five to seven inches in diameter. If you've got questions about getting started, the company's site also features this great Gardening 101 section. 

T&T Seeds

In addition to gardening accessories, bulbs, plants and, of course, seeds, T&T Seeds sells a selection of curated boxes and kits to inspire you this season. Look to this kids' discovery box to delight young ones with a green thumb, or check out the brand's subscription boxes (available in two- or four-season options). 

The Seed Company by E.W. Gaze

This St. John's company has been, as its motto says, selling "seed, soils and supplies since 1925." It offers an extensive catalogue of herb, vegetable and flower seeds, plus these newly added mushroom growing kits that let you cultivate edible fungi indoors. 

OSC Seeds

OSC Seeds's catalogue contains seeds from over 250 vegetables and over 240 annuals, not to mention a range of herbs, wildflowers, ornamental grasses and trees. In other words, you can browse to your heart's content! Of note are seeds from international vegetable varieties native to countries such as India, Italy, Japan and France. The company has also put together convenient seed collections, such as this vegetable garden starter kit. 

Stems Flower Farm

Dahlia lovers, this may be the business for you! Stems Flower Farm has an entire section of its site devoted to tubers that will ship in late April or early May (act fast as stock is selling quickly). And if you're looking for vegetable seeds, this eight-acre farm's offerings extend well beyond its beautiful blooms. 

William Dam Seeds

This Dundas, Ont., supplier sells a massive assortment of greencrop, vegetable, fruit, flower and herb seeds, plus the tools and supplies you'll need to grow them. William Dam Seeds's new-for-2022 picks include pink-and-yellow-accented Apricotta cosmos and this heat-tolerant Baby Market Blend lettuce. 

Annapolis Seeds

Annapolis Seeds sells a wide range of seeds through its site, which includes a section devoted to seeds from various dye plants (fun to grow if you plan to tie-dye later in the season). Its site also contains helpful gardening guides, like this one that explains how to save some of the seeds your plants produce this year. Offline, if you visit the company's farm in Nictaux, N.S., you can pick up seeds from a self-serve shop on the front porch.

Cultural Seeds

Cultural Seeds specializes in selling and trading seeds from "heritage and rare plants from Turtle Island." The Indigenous woman-owned company also sells live plants and gifts (which you can purchase on its site or Facebook page) and offers gardening consulting services to Indigenous organizations and nations. Proceeds benefit Cultural Seeds's sister project, Ga Gitigemi Gamik: We Will Plant Lodge, a proposed ecological centre where Indigenous women and 2SLGBTTQQIA+ people can learn and reclaim traditional agricultural practices.  

Prairie Garden Seeds

Located in Humboldt, Sask., Prairie Garden Seeds is run by a father-daughter duo. Its online shop features a vast selection of grain and vegetable seeds to grow, and lots of flower seeds to select from, too, including wildflower seeds that are native to the area. 

The Incredible Seed Company

Nova Scotia's The Incredible Seed Company specializes in heirloom vegetable seeds. Over 500 varieties are available on its site, which features sections devoted to culinary and medicinal herbs. The business also sells an assortment of fruit tree seeds to consider planting in your yard this summer. 

Berton Seeds Company

Missing the vegetable varieties of his homeland, the company's founder, Angelo Berton, began importing seeds from Italy to Toronto in the 1970s. Today, you'll find an assortment of over 150 vegetable, flower and herb seeds in the company's collection, with over 95 per cent of them still originating from Italy.

Saanich Organics

Saanich Organics is a small group of organic farmers in the Victoria, B.C., area that sells local produce and a line of seeds called Seeds of the Revolution, which includes pretty much every type of vegetable seed you need to get your garden started this season. Order online from anywhere in the country or, if you're in B.C., find them at many local spots around Victoria and Vancouver Island.  

West Coast Seeds

Beyond vegetables, West Coast Seeds's catalogue features sections devoted to fruit, microgreens, ornamental grasses, and more fun and delicious things to sow. The company's site also offers plenty of resources for gardeners of all skill levels; browse its 2022 gardening guide here or dive into an explainer on raised garden beds here. 

Wildrose Heritage Seed Company

All of Wildrose Heritage Seed Company's heirloom vegetable, herb and flower seeds are grown in Lethbridge, Alta. — and there are 279 varieties to choose from on its online shop. The brand's Mylar seed packets stand out from the crowd: reusable and waterproof, they're designed to extend the life of your seeds.

Eagle Ridge Seeds

Eagle Ridge Seeds describes itself as a "living seed bank" with a focus on producing endangered heirloom seeds. Located on B.C.'s Salt Spring Island, this business has numerous online offerings, with sections on its site devoted to seeds from herbs, flowers and a range of vegetables including peppers and tomatoes. It has also highlighted which varieties are endangered and which ones attract bees. 

W.H. Perron

W.H. Perron's catalogue features over 1,000 products to pick from (scroll through its online catalogue for 2022 right here). If you're stuck on pairings, the company has compiled helpful seed collections, including this pack of companion flower seeds made up of varieties "that deter or trap garden pests," this mix of wildflower seeds for fans of fresh-cut bouquets, and this bundle of five different varieties of basil seed.

Urban Harvest

Urban Harvest sells vegetable, herb and flower seeds; plant foods; and even its own brand of gardener's salve in its online shop. But if you live in the Greater Toronto Area, you can also find Urban Harvest's products at local farmers' markets or its brick-and-mortar shop, which reopens on Bloor Street W. for the season on April 1. 

Howard Dill Enterprises

If you've been scouring this list in search of humongous pumpkins, we turn your attention to this business located in Windsor, N.S. Howard Dill Enterprises is known for its trademarked gargantuan gourds known as Dill's Atlantic Giants, said to be the world's largest pumpkin variety. So if you've got the space and fancy yourself a pumpkin-growing contest champ, these may be the seeds you're after this season.