21 Best Free Seed Catalogs In 2022

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nothing helps cure a gardener’s claustrophobia like a thick stack of seed catalogues.

As you flip through each one, your garden comes to life in your mind…

…green shoots sticking out of the ground, seedlings basking in the sun, tomatoes juicy, ripe and ready for garden dinners.

There’s a lot to look forward to in your garden this year, and it all starts with some great seed catalogues.

But how do you know which ones are right for you?

I have created this list of the best seed catalogs to make it easy for you…

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking one of my links. I only link to products that I use and recommend.

Free seed catalogs make for excellent winter reading! Grab a cup of tea and curl up with a stack.

What makes these the best seed catalogs?

These are the seed catalogs I return to year after year. the first 11 are the ones I’ve had the most direct experience with.

but you can’t go wrong with any of the catalogs on this list.

the best part? they’re all free!

related: how long will the seeds last?

how to get free seed catalogs

all of these catalogs are available online.

But I find it incredibly satisfying to flip through a stack of catalogs on a winter day while circling “just one more variety” of tomato.

but really, can you have too many 🍅?

It is easy to request printed catalogues.

every seed company that offers one has a page on their website where you can request a catalog.
a couple of the catalogs on this list don’t have a print version, and I’ve noticed that.
but a word of warning, if you’re a new gardener, stick to just a couple of catalogs to begin with. too many catalogs at once can seem a bit overwhelming.

Catalogs on this page are shipped to the United States and Canada unless otherwise noted.

related: is it cheaper to buy seeds or plants?

the 3 best free seed catalogs

botanical interests

I have been a huge fan of botanical interests for a long time, especially since they are located in my home state of Colorado.

A few years ago, I took a tour of their headquarters and saw firsthand how well managed and detailed their operations are.
I have grown their seeds for years. and I’ve always had excellent germination rates.
and at the start of each season, I look forward to taking out your seed packets. they are beautiful inspiring little works of art. (They even offer prints of the artwork that are suitable for framing.)

Your printed seed catalog (or digital version) features the same great illustrations that appear on your seed packets. It’s also packed with planting, growing, and gardening tips.

Why buy from botanical interests?

specialize in heirloom and open pollinated herb, vegetable and flower seeds for home gardeners. they have some hybrids and many of their seeds are certified organic.
your seeds arrive in beautifully illustrated seed packets with detailed planting information on the back and a mini growing guide printed inside the packet. they manage to pack a lot of useful information on (and inside) each packet, including plant history, landscaping ideas, organic gardening know-how, recipes, and fun facts.
all the garden tools and products that carry are made in the usa USA
have excellent customer service and their employees are dedicated to giving you the best gardening experience.

What sets botanical interests apart from other seed companies?

package points: Earn points towards free seeds with every order! who doesn’t love free, high-quality seeds?
online wish list: Create an account to set up wish lists of seeds and garden products that you can view or email to family members and friends.
Helpful Newsletter: When you sign up for their email newsletter, you’ll receive tips and tricks for gardening success, recipes, and craft ideas.

You can find everything you need to start growing from seed right here in one catalogue!

Please note that Botanical Interests only ship to the US. uu.

visit botanical interests | request a printed catalog or download a digital version

Related: how to prevent leggy seedlings.

renee’s garden

renee’s garden is a garden-to-table seed company run by gardeners for gardeners.

renee shepherd founded renee’s garden in 1998. the catalog features her carefully selected and thoroughly tested seed choices from seed growers around the world.

renee’s life mission is to ensure that gardeners of all experience levels can purchase seeds that will perform well in their garden, no matter where they live.

and he did it!

Not only have I been a customer of Renee’s Garden for years and had great success with her seeds. I also have and cook from Renee’s Garden cookbooks.

why shop at renee’s garden?

Their seed selections focus on flavor and yield. They carry gourmet vegetable, annual herb, perennial and cut flower seeds that will beautify your garden and home.
Seed packets feature lush watercolor illustrations and a bonus flap with helpful growing instructions for you to use. can find the perfect place to plant. And you won’t be looking online for information on seed depth, days to germinate, or when to plant because it’s all in the package!
renee’s tests all of their seeds in their test gardens in different climates zones (ca, fl, wa, vt). whether or not a seed makes it into their catalog depends on “excellence in flavor, color, and ease of cultivation and garden performance for home gardeners.”

what sets renee’s apart from other seed companies?

Seed Collections – They offer carefully selected seed collections perfect for beginning gardeners.
Special Occasion Seed Packets – They have years of experience creating beautiful custom seed packets for weddings, promotions and special projects.
Online Gardening Resources: Their website features hundreds of articles, growing guides, recipes, and videos. you could spend many happy hours learning more about gardening and cooking.

Although Renee’s does not have a printed catalog, the digital seed catalog is easy to navigate on any device.

with the best flavor of vegetables & Herb varieties to live from garden to table and flowers to delight your senses and feed the bees, Renee has something for every gardener!

visit renee’s garden

free download: how long do vegetable seeds last?

high harvest organic seeds

high mowing organic seeds offers over 700 varieties of organic vegetable, flower, fruit and herb seeds. if that sounds like a lot, it is!

Where their selections really shine is in the vegetables. just looking at the lettuce varieties and specialty greens is enough to make you want to break out of the ranch dressing!
the printed catalog is well organized and has colored tabs along the edge of the pages to help you navigate from page to page. section by section.
Not only is the catalog filled with beautiful photos of all the varieties, but one of the unique features of their catalog is the pricing tables. makes it easy to find the price for the size package you want to buy.
They also provide helpful information on planting, growing, disease and illness. pests and seed specifications for each type of seed they offer.

why buy high harvest organic seeds?

help you find varieties that will do well where you live: search their blog for the vegetable you want to grow. look for articles titled “how to choose and grow” or “selecting the right varieties.” then find your region on the page.
they have a great return policy. “If you’re not 100% satisfied with your purchase, let us know and we’ll offer to replace your purchase or credit your account right away.” seeds and I have not had to use their return policy. but it is reassuring to know that they are after their seeds.

What sets Siega Alta apart from other seed companies?

are one of the few seed companies that offer 100% organically grown seeds. have been 100% organic since they began selling seeds in 1996.
each year they donate over 100,000 packets of seeds to community gardens, school gardens, church gardens, food bank gardens, summer and disaster relief groups through their seed donation program.

If organic farming is important to you, I encourage you to buy certified organic seeds whenever possible. that makes ordering high harvest seeds a doddle!

visit high harvest organic seeds | request your printed catalog or download a pdf version

Related: Download a set of free seed starter rack plans.

biggest seed companies offering a free seed catalog

cheerful butterfly

joyful butterfly has what you need if you’re looking to help pollinators like monarchs and bees.

they carry butterfly nectar plants and seeds and butterfly host plants and seeds, including one of the largest collections of milkweed seeds I have ever seen!
many of their seeds and plants are native to the us
and it’s easy to find varieties that are native to your state.

They have promised that:

all of their plants and seeds are safe for pollinators to chew on like caterpillars and drink nectar as adults.
all of their seeds and plants are free of neonicotinoids.
use the same seeds they sell to grow their plants to find out how well the seeds perform.

All the seeds I ordered from joyful butterfly have had excellent germination rates and are happily growing and blooming in my garden. (They also sell plants if you’re not sure about starting perennials from seed.)

note: you can only ship seeds, not plants, to az and canada.

Although joyful butterfly does not have a printed catalog, the website is very easy to navigate on any device. and it’s easy to find plants and seeds native to your state.

visit happy butterfly

johnny’s selected seeds

regional adaptation: northeastern united states

johnny’s carries a large selection of vegetable, herb and flower seeds, and a full line of garden supplies. pretty much everything you need to grow a successful garden.

All the seeds I’ve ordered from Johnny’s have germinated well.
Johnny’s trials hundreds of varieties every year at their farm in Albion, Maine, so you can be sure they’ll perform well in the northeast.
And if you want to nerd out on things like the best germination temperature for your seeds, Johnny’s is the place to go. Their main seed catalog is huge – over 200 pages chock-full of sowing and growing information. (Which new gardeners might find a bit overwhelming).

and offer an extensive collection of growing guides for home and market gardeners in their online grower library.

visit to johnny’s | request your paper catalog or download a pdf version

exchange of seed savers

Regional Adaptation: US Specific. regions (down to the state level) are available through the seed exchange (see below)

This nonprofit organization pioneered the traditional seed movement in the 1970s. The Seed Saver Exchange began in 1975 to preserve the biodiversity of our food by growing and exchanging rare heirlooms and seeds. open pollinated.

focus on preserving varieties brought to North America by immigrants and traditional varieties grown by Native Americans, Mennonites, and Amish.
oversees the largest non-governmental seed bank in the us . UU., With thousands of varieties cataloged and preserved. you can buy some of these seeds through their catalog and seed exchange (see below).
They carry seeds of vegetables, flowers, herbs, and trees. many of these varieties cannot be found anywhere else. they also offer specialized seed saving supplies, which come in handy when the seed saving bug bites!

If preserving heirlooms is important to you, check out their heirloom seed catalog and consider becoming a member.

note: they have a pdf catalog, but you can only view it, not download it.🙁

Visit the Seed Saver Exchange Catalog | request a paper seed catalog

watch a video from ashly honeywood’s channel about the 2022 seed catalogs

exchange of seed savers exchange of seeds

Regional Adaptation: US Specific. regions (down to the state level) are available

yes i know, the name is a bit confusing as the catalog is also called “seed exchange”, but this is totally separate from the main offerings in the seed catalogue.

the exchange is a place where you can buy seeds from hobby seed growers and seed savers exchange seed bank. (you can also share your own open pollinated seeds). That’s how the exchange started: as a way for gardeners to share seeds and keep seed lines alive.

👉 I recommend the exchange only to experienced gardeners. most lists do not provide detailed seeding and planting information (days to maturity, seeding depth, days to germination, germination temperature).

A great benefit of trading is buying seeds that do well in your region or state.

It’s free to join the exchange and search online listings.

join or register for the seed savers seed exchange | request a printed copy of the exchange yearbook

baker creek heirloom seed

You can find just about any heirloom or rare seed you want in Baker Creek’s print or online catalog.

The annual seed catalog is now mailed to over 1 million customers. This isn’t surprising since it has a heft that most catalogs lack and looks more like a glossy magazine than a seed catalog. And honestly, it might feel overwhelming for some new gardeners.
It has large, beautiful photos and plant descriptions that include its history, why the variety was selected, and ideas for using it in your kitchen or flower garden.
It’s hard to not want one of everything!
In a rare move for a seed company, Baker Creek offers free shipping on every order in the U.S.
And when you order from Baker Creek, there’s no fear of failed crops. Your seeds are guaranteed to germinate. They offer a satisfaction guarantee of 2 years, which is unusual and shows they stand behind their seeds.

all the seeds I have ordered from baker creek have had excellent germination rates and harvest yields.

then if you’re looking for rare heirloom seeds, your search is over!

visit baker creek | request a paper catalog or download a digital version

search for native seeds

regional adaptation: southwestern united states

Do you live in the Southwest or in a hot, dry environment? then you know how difficult it can be to find strains that perform well in those conditions.

the quest for native seeds is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting & perpetuating traditional seeds that are adapted to arid and semi-arid climates.
specialize in native, traditional, and harder-to-find seeds that perform well in hot, dry conditions.
and their descriptions they let you know if a plant is adapted to the low or high desert.

If saving desert-adapted seeds is important to you, buy them. and consider becoming a member.

note: their paper catalog is not free, but the pdf version is.

visit native seed search

seeds from italy

seeds from italy is the u.s. distributor of franchi sementi, the oldest family owned seed business in italy.

Founded in 1783, the company sells more than 500 varieties of Italian vegetable, herb, and flower seeds, with more than 70% Italian growers.
Their seeds are untreated, the most are open pollinated, and many are certified organic.
Worried about growing Italian seeds in your garden? As Seeds From Italy points out, Italy has four seasons, as does most of the US. uu. and canada then, the seeds will be fine here. they even give you a guide to reading a packet of franchi seeds.

my next door neighbor, born in rome, has had great success with these seeds.

If you would like to have a bit of Italy in your garden and on your table, this is your chance to grow delicious traditional varieties!

visit seeds from italy | request a catalog

j.l. hudson, hotbed

Warning: When you open this catalog for the first time, you may feel intimidated. (and the website is as simple as it gets). no beautiful photos, no poetic descriptions, no plant porn.

just black and white pages full of botanical names, a few scattered line drawings here and there, and short but intriguing descriptions. (side note: vegetable seeds are grouped by common names).

The amazing variety of unusual and exotic plants is the reason to get this catalog.

It’s a catalog for plant nerds, to be sure.
It makes you focus on the plant and whether it will thrive in your garden, rather than being lured by a pretty face and regretting it. a plant that won’t work in your garden.
you don’t get as much seed starting detail on things like planting depth, germination temperatures, days to maturity, and bloom times as you do with other catalogs. so you’ll need to do some outside research to get that information.
This is a public access seed bank, not a traditional seed company with a large number of staff. so your ordering process is a bit different from other catalogues. you can request the paper catalog and mail it in the order form or email them your seed request and send your payment via paypal.

All seeds are open pollinated and sourced from seed producers around the world. I’ve had great germination rates from this catalog.

If you’re ready to take the plunge into non-illustrated catalogs, this is the one to start with.

I also suggest picking up a copy of the gardener’s a-z guide to growing flowers from seed to bloom. will fill in the gaps, such as accurate planting depth, flowering time, and germination temperatures for flowers.

visit j.l. hudson, seed man | request the printed catalog

more top seed companies with free catalogues

hudson valley seeds co.
john scheepers kitchen garden seeds
pinetree garden seeds
selected seeds
siskiyou seeds
south exposure seed exchange
sow true seed
strictly medicinal seed
territorial seed company
wild garden seeds

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21 Best Free Seed Catalogs in 2022