Starting plants from seed is one of the most rewarding types of gardening.  To start from a tiny seed and grow vegetables, flowering annuals and perennials, herbs, and even cactus is truly amazing and fun!  Each seed has everything it needs to grow – you just supply the moisture, light, and soil to begin the process of seed germination.

At Plantscape Nursery we offer everything a person needs to be successful in gardening from seeds, and we’ll tell you how to get started.  

Start with the best quality seeds for good germination and healthy plants.  We carry brands we know will have a high seed count in the package and a high germination percentage. We choose our own varieties to offer to our customers so you can be successful growing plants from seed in our area.   Over the years, we have grown so many varieties of the seeds we offer that we know they are great quality.   Seeds we offer include Lake Valley Seed, Renee’s Garden Seeds, Hudson Valley Seeds, and all organic Botanical Interests seeds.   

Lake Valley Seed provides the highest quality flower, vegetable, and herb seed available. We have carried their seeds for many years and have always found their selection, package seed count, and germination percentage to be the best. Their seeds do not contain GMOs, are untreated, and they ensure quality seed with yearly germination testing.  

Renee’s Garden Seeds are varieties that are very special for home gardeners, based on great flavor, easy culture and exceptional garden performance.  Renee Shepherd personally chooses exciting and unusual seed choices of time-tested heirlooms, the best international hybrids and fine open-pollinated varieties. Their seed packets are individually written and offer beautiful watercolor portraits, personally written descriptions, complete growing instructions, a quick-view planting chart, growing tips, harvesting information and cooking ideas. Inside you'll find superior quality seed - the top germinating, reliable seed lots usually reserved for specialty growers.

Botanical Interests® Garden Seed is a selection of all organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  Their seeds supply gardeners with the highest quality in the most beautiful and informative seed packets on the market.  Their desire for more information along with their passion for spreading gardening wisdom led them to create a unique seed packet that is not only beautiful but is also filled with facts, tips, recipes and quality seed.  All their seeds are untreated, non GMO, and tested for germination.

Indoors: Some plants really benefit by starting from seed indoors. Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and eggplant are some of the vegetables that are best started indoors.  Many perennials and some annual flowers also do best when started indoors and set out in the garden as a transplant.  Generally, tomatoes are sown indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost, peppers 8-10 weeks, onions 8-12 weeks, broccoli 4- 6 weeks, and flower seed anywhere from 4-12 weeks before last frost.  The back of the seed packet will let you know how many weeks before the average last spring frost date you need to sow the seeds.  Our last spring frost date in southern Illinois is about April 15-20, so count back from this date however many weeks it says on the seed packet, and that’s when to start the seeds.

Outdoors:  Cool season crops such as lettuce, spinach, peas, radish, swiss chard, and leafy greens can be sown outdoors as early as 6-8 weeks before last frost for a spring harvest.  These are plants that grow best and are ready to harvest during cool weather, either in early spring or late fall. Remember they can also be sown during late summer for a fall crop that will mature during cool weather in October or November. Warm season crops like beans, cucumbers, melons, squash, and pumpkins are sensitive to frost and need warm weather and soil to germinate.  These are seeds you will wait to sow outdoors until after our last frost date or even a little later when the soil has warmed up.  Many annual flower seeds like zinnias, cosmos, cleome, and sunflowers are warm season crops.  Perennial flower seeds can be sown from early spring through late summer, as long as they have enough time to establish a good root system before cold weather arrives.  

Seed Starting

Supplies and Know How

Hudson Valley Seeds

   Beautiful seed packs from Hudson Valley Seeds make great gifts, or buy some for yourself! The packages are unique colored drawings, each by a different artist and inside are heirloom seeds with its own unique seed story, plus information about the artist and planting tips for each variety. Hudson Valley has its own seed farm where open-pollinated seeds are grown, saved, and packed by hand. The packs are so appealing, the planting information well researched, and the seeds collected fresh. Select from several varieties and enjoy giving or getting such unique seeds while helping to preserve genetic diversity.  Plant the Seeds, Frame the Art!