Pollinator Love Spring Plant Sale 2026
Flowers
Tithonia
“Sunflower, Mexican Torch” - (from Cedar Place seeds) Grown from the seed of our plants that we grew last season. The original seeds came from Uprising Seeds in Washington state a couple years ago. This “sunflower” is beautiful, big, and tough. You will love the deep orange blooms with their bright yellow centers. Once they get going the continue to pump out masses of blooms all summer long. These flowers are a pollinator favorite, butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love them!
Marigolds
“Coco Gold Deep Orange” - (from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine) - The sturdy plants produce abundant, fully double 2 1/2–3" blooms excellent for cut flowers and garden beds. Bold, uniform flowers are also useful for marigold garlands. Also known as African marigold, American marigold, and Aztec marigold. Edible Flowers: Use the flowers to dress up salads and desserts or cooked in egg or rice dishes. Flavor is floral with hints of citrus and spice, and slightly bitter. Remove the petals from the flower base before consuming as the base can be quite bitter.
“Red Metamorph” - (from Botanical Interests in Colorado) - In cooler weather, Red Metamorph's flowers are a deep burgundy, but when the weather warms, watch as splashes of yellow appear on the petals! Then when cooler weather comes back around, the blooms change back to solid burgundy. Beautiful as a garden hedge, this French marigold is stout and dense at about 2'-3' tall. French marigolds are edible, but with a very strong flavor similar to its pungent scent. Prolific bloomer attracts beneficial insects.
“White Swan” - (from Johnny’s Seeds in Winslow, Maine) - 2–3" cream to pale yellow-colored, fully double, uniform blooms borne on productive, sturdy, uniform plants. High-quality blooms produce a mild, sweet, marshmallow fragrance, without the typical strong marigold scent. White Swan is significantly taller and higher quality than all other cream-colored marigolds. Also known as African marigold, American marigold, and Aztec marigold.
Zinnia
“Oriole” - (from Grand Prismatic Seeds in Utah) - This heirloom variety has large blooms atop long stems, making it a great choice for arrangements. Excellent for attracting hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies to your garden! Lovely bright orange blossoms of Oriole Zinnia are so brilliantly colored they almost seem incandescent. Long, sturdy stems are great for cutting. Blooms right up until frost for good late season color, and provides excellent habitat and food for pollinators and songbirds. Big branching plants are covered in flowers. Cutting for bouquets and deadheading will promote even more flowering. Deer resistant, tender annual. Classic variety from the 1920s.
Herbs
Basil
“Genovese” - (from Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon) - “The classic pesto basil produces a profusion of deep green large leaves full of complex flavor and aroma. Responds well to frequent harvests. Harvest low to encourage succulent re-growth rather than woody stems. In flower, it is an excellent nectar source for pollinators.”
Tulsi
Tulsi, Temperate, “Holy Basil” Ocimum africanum - (from Strictly Medicinal Seeds in Oregon) - “This plant is a bushy annual tea basil with small leaves, purple flowers and a fruity fragrance. A flavorful, fragrant cooking herb with notes of clove, mint, anise and citrus. Loved by pollinators and an effective companion plant for tomatoes and peppers. One of the best herbs to grow for tea.”
Cilantro
“Long Standing Santo” - (from Botanical Interests in Colorado) - “Cilantro has a thousand uses in the kitchen. 'Long Standing Santo' in particular has excellent flavor, improved leafiness and, as the name infers, it is slow to bolt. Add a sprig to chicken soup or add chopped leaves to Mexican, Caribbean, or Asian dishes. The crushed seeds add intriguing flavor to stews, beans, and cookies. Can be grown indoors for fresh cilantro leaves year-round. Cilantro grows best in cool temperatures but can be grown in the summer in dappled shade and protection from the full sun. You can let this plant go to seed for coriander (seed pods), which is also a crop that can be harvested from this versatile herb.”
Tomatoes
Cherry
“Black Cherry” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “Black Cherry combines the smoky rich taste of the black tomatoes with the sweetness of the cherries. It wins raves everywhere, and as a dried fruit has even been mistaken for a tree cherry. Though the fruits on the vine have a beautiful opalescent sheen, the plant itself is a rangy sprawler, not a front porch ornamental. It produces heavily all season but needs hot days to bring out its full flavor.” INDETERMINATE
“California Sungold” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “Breeders Kanti Rawal and Steve Peters are confident enough to incorporate the gold standard in their name for this new cherry tomato variety, which closely resembles the original hybrid in size, color, and bright sweet taste. Heavy producers all season, and unlike their namesake, do not crack. Now you can have your (California) Sungold and save the seeds too.” INDETERMINATE
Slicers/Beafsteaks
“New Girl” - (from Johnny’s Seeds in Winslow, Maine) - “New Girl is an early variety well worth growing for your first tomatoes of the season. It has outstanding flavor and disease resistance. Flavor is the perfect balance between sweet and acid. The fruits weigh 4-7 oz. and hold their ripeness and flavor on the vine very well.” INDETERMINATE
“Striped German” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “One of the quintessential heirlooms, known for eccentric beauty and off-the-charts taste, Striped German is big and meaty – up to 2 lbs. – with red swirls on yellow, making each fruit unique inside and out. A small seed cavity makes it an excellent slicer – a cross-section is a marvel to behold. Its complex fruity taste is low-acid without being low-flavor.” INDETERMINATE
“Chocolate Silk” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “This new beefsteak, another offering from the Rawal/Peters team, features excellent dark tomato flavor and a texture that is deliciously silky. Chestnut-red fruits with darker shading have an almost opalescent sheen. Most are in the 8-12/oz range, with some larger. Steady all-season production.” DETERMINATE
“Black Krim” - (from Burpee Seeds, Warminster, Pennsylvania) - “Black Krim tomatoes are known for their rich, slightly smoky, and sweet flavor with a hint of saltiness. They are often described as having a meaty, juAn heirloom variety, this medium-sized, very dark maroon beefsteak, with wonderfully rich flavor, originated in Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea with perfect "tomato summers". Extremely tasty.” INDETERMINATE
“Greek Asimina” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “Gourmet red-red tomatoes — “best tomato I’ve ever tasted”, according to one Bay Area food writer. Not a shy bearer, either, Greek Asimina churns out medium-sized tomatoes early in the season right up until frost. Fruits are round to modestly fluted, and bear in loose clusters. In cool weather or heat, Asimina retains its full-bodied flavor. Equally great as a slicer, in salads, or cooked into sauce. Available nowhere else that we know, Greek Asimina is a great tomato for those with epicurean tastes, which means pretty much everyone. It’s not the largest, though it might be the reddest, and it bears among the longest of all our tomatoes.” INDETERMINATE
“Zapotec Pleated” - (from Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “An Heirloom originating from near Oaxaca, Mexico. They are the native tomato of the region. These large fruits are surprisingly light with little water weight and firm, sturdy walls suitable for grilling and stuffing. Pale red with many pleats. Sliced they resemble a lace doily. Light and elegant taste. These were a top taster’s choice during our Tomato Tasting Fest of 2011.” INDETERMINATE
Canning/Sauce/Paste
“Rosso Sicilian” - (from Peaceful Valley Seeds in Grass Valley, CA) - “Paste Rosso Sicilian Tomato is a robust and productive variety cherished for its rich, tangy flavor and meaty texture. The deep red fruit grows to about 4-6 ounces, offering dense flesh with minimal seeds, making it perfect for creating thick, flavorful sauces, pastes, and salsas. This heirloom variety is easy to grow and performs well in garden beds, raised beds, or trellised systems. Whether you’re cooking up a batch of marinara or preserving your harvest for winter meals, these tomatoes deliver exceptional quality and taste.” DETERMINATE
“Milano Plumb” - (from Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “This determinate paste tomato is a highly productive Italian heirloom. Fruits are large to 5 inches, very meaty with few seeds. Good flavor. Compact tomato bushes could be planted in containers for patio gardeners. For canning a determinate tomato can be a blessing since all the fruits are ready at nearly the same time. This allows the avid canner to preserve large batches all at once.” DETERMINATE
“Italian Red Pear” - (from Seeds from Italy) - “Franchi's Red Pear tomato is an old North Italian variety specially selected by Franchi Sementi. It is a red, pear-shaped beefsteak. An outstanding producer of huge (as in 8-18 ounce) very tasty fruit. Great fresh eating. Early for such a large plant (70-75 days). This is not the small pear shaped tomato called red pear by U.S. seed companies. Pear shaped with vertical ribs - a must try. Really meaty containing few seeds.” INDETERMINATE
“Ukrainian Purple” - (from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa) - “The Ukrainian Purple tomato is a striking heirloom variety known for its deep purple, almost black, elongated fruits. A difficult variety to find in any nursery and the seeds aren’t widely carried by big seed companies, this is a secret worth sharing. Typically growing to about 3-4 inches in length, these tomatoes have a rich, sweet flavor with a hint of tang, making them ideal for fresh eating, salads, and salsas but also can be used to make rich flavored sauces or canned for a pop of summer taste during the cold winter months. Original stock of this variety came from Irma Henkel in Ukraine. Plum-shaped fruits are 3-4" long and weigh 6 ounces, generally crack-free. Great flavor, sweet and meaty. Plants are very productive.” INDETERMINATE
Mild Peppers
“Shishito” - (from Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon) - A culinary sensation! Try growing them for their prolific yields of thin walled, 3-4”, bull-nosed frying peppers. Plants grow to 30” tall and yield over a long season. They are delicious fried with olive oil, coarse salt and some lemon juice. Quite addictive. NOT SPICY.
HOT Peppers
“Fresno” - (from Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon) - “This is an excellent chili that produces masses of 3” long by 1.25” red, tapered, wedge-shaped fruit. Good for salsa, sriracha, hot sauce, drying, roasting and more. Fruits ripen from green to red.” HOT PEPPER.
“Aleppo” - (from Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon) - “Hailing from Aleppo, Syria, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities (since the 6th century BCE). Although common in the Middle East, its use in the United States outside Armenian, Syrian and Turkish immigrant communities was rare until the 20th century. Typically used dried, its burgundy pods possess a fruity, raisin-like flavor with undertones of cumin. Plants can grow to 4 feet tall, so staking is necessary at times. Fruits are a deep brick red, 4-6” long, with a blunt-lobed tip reminiscent of a bell peppers lobes.” HOT PEPPER
Anaheim “College 64” - (from Peaceful Valley Organic Seeds in Grass Valley, CA) - “The peppers of the Anaheim College 64 start as vibrant green pods, elongating to roughly 6-8 inches in length. As they mature, they transition to a bright red hue. Known for their mild heat, these peppers offer a subtle spiciness, scoring around 500-2,500 on the Scoville Heat Scale. Their elongated shape and thin walls make them ideal for stuffing, grilling, or adding a mild kick to salsas and sauces.” MILD HOT PEPPER.
Bush Beans
French Baby Bush Beans “Nickel Filet” - (From Renee’s Garden Seeds in Mead, CO) - “These first-quality mini beans were originally developed for upscale European markets and sold for top prices to fine restaurants. Nickel beans are produced in abundance on sturdy compact plants and mature at just 3 to 4 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter. The tender pods need only brief cooking and little extra adornment. They will grace your plate and palate steamed and tossed with a little butter and fresh herbs or sautéed and sauced.”
“Dragon Tongue” - (From Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “Known as a wax bean, these plump, juicy, yellow beans with purple flecks are an old time dual-purpose heirloom with superb flavor. We love them raw or cooked. Harvest the dry bean pods and use the dry beans in soups or stews.”
“Speckled Bayo” - (From Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “This heirloom bush bean was historically grown in our hometown of Manton, CA and is well known for its delicious eating qualities. The dry beans are speckled maroon and white and cook up with amazing flavor and texture. The young immature pods can also be eaten as fresh snap beans.”
Pole Beans
“Red Noodle” - (From Open Circle Seeds in Mendocino County, CA) - “Red Noodle is a variety of Chinese Yard-Long Bean, also known as Asparagus Bean. It’s a climber, with prolific production of 16-20” beans in clusters of up to 4. Plants love heat but still produce with cold nights. Red stringless beans are sweet, nutty, and tender – all-around delicious – and especially suited to stir-fry preparation.”
“Trionfo Violetto” - (From Uprising Seeds in Bellingham, WA) - “We started growing this bean on the recommendation of a customer who feared her favorite strain of it, from the old “Cooks Garden” catalog, would get lost after they were bought by Burpee’s several years ago. Italian for “purple triumph”, it’s a strong climber with exceptionally long, slender, and slightly flattened pods with a deep violet color and excellent flavor. Easy color to spot among the foliage and long enough to tie into a pretzel, it's beautiful in raw bean salads as well as cooked, though like all purple beans the color is not heat-stable. Kid favorite!”
“Marvel of Venice” - (From Uprising Seeds in Bellingham, WA) - “We have become very picky over the years when it comes to flavor with fresh beans and think it’s a tragically overlooked quality in modern bean breeding that focuses too much on looks and yields alone. We have tried and turned down several recommended varieties because they simply don’t taste as good as a handful we know and love. Marvel of Venice is one we have fallen in love with year after year; just so rich and buttery that it may well be tops in our experience for flavor. Long, flat, golden-yellow Romano-type pods bear early and prolifically on strong climbing vines. Perfect lightly steamed and tossed with olive oil and lemon. We tried both the black-seeded and white-seeded strains, and strongly preferred the white-seeded ones both for earliness and flavor. We have worked to virtually eliminate the green off-types (these taste just as wonderful, by the way) that plague much of the commercially available seed. If you grow them, plan to give them 7’ or so of support. These beans are irresistible! White seeds.”
Summer Squash
Zucchini “Mutabile” - (from Open Circle Seeds, Mendocino County, CA) - “Mutabile is an early and heavy bearer, on open almost spineless bushes – zucs are easy to see and harvest without scratching hands or fruits. Best of all, plants keep producing at a steady pace all season, right up until frost.”
Zucchini “Costata Romanesco” - (from Redwood Seeds, Manton, CA) - “Italian heirloom zucchini known for its excellent flavor and texture. Light green fruits with ribs that are delicious raw or cooked. Heavy producer of male blossoms great for eating. We even stuffed these flowers with cheese and herbs and then battered and fried them this summer for a delicious appetizer! Many folks think this is theonly summer squash worth growing.”
Yellow Squash “Success PM” - (from High Mowing Seeds, Wolcott, VT) - “Prolific, disease resistant plants with smooth, uniform and attractive fruit. A breakthrough in open-pollinated summer squash; high yielding in our trials with over three months of abundant, disease-free harvest. Released by High Mowing Organic Seeds and Cornell's Vegetable Breeding Institute.”
“Yellow Squash “Crookneck” - (from Redwood Seeds, Manton, CA) - “Classic yellow crookneck squash great steamed, fried, baked, grilled. Anyway you like it! Harvest young and often for a continuous supply of this tasty squash.”
Winter Squash
“Hybrid Butternut JWS 6823 PMR” - (from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine) - “Traditional butternut shape, good mildew resistance, and superior flavor. Shorter vines than Waltham Butternut and Metro. Our thanks to Cornell University for working with us to develop this variety.”
“Hybrid Kabocha Sunshine” - {Coming Soon}(from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine) - “Deep scarlet and delicious. Smooth, tender flesh that is sweet, bright orange, and excellent for baking, mashing, and pies. Superior appearance and eating quality when compared to other varieties of this type. Can be consumed right at maturity. Vigorous medium vine. Avg. weight: 4–6 lb. AAS Winner.”
Melon
“Eel River” - (from Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “Heirloom melon with Japanese origin. Further refined in Humbolt county by breeder Bill Reynolds. Sweet orange flesh with tear drop shape and unique markings. Fruits turn from bluish to gold when ripe. Fairly large melon at 4-6 lbs.”
Watermelon (Coming Soon)
“Oh So Sweet” - (From Open Circle Seeds in Mendocino County, CA) - “I thought this heirloom watermelon’s name was a bit silly until I had my first bite and found myself saying Oh! So Sweet! Quick-to-ripen round striped fruits in the medium size range, a reliable choice for short seasons or novice growers, or for anyone who wants a classic sweet red watermelon that’s not too big.”
“Early Moonbeam” - (From Open Circle Seeds in Mendocino County, CA) - “This sprightly yellow-fleshed icebox melon, 5-8 lbs., is the gift of Oregon breeder Alan Kapuler, who de-hybridized it from the popular but unsustainable Yellow Doll F1. Now we can all save the seeds and carry it forward. Early and prolific, it thrives in short seasons, cool nights, and smallish spaces. Sweet refreshing taste of summer…”
Cucumber
“Spacemaster 80” - (from Botanical Interests in Broomfield, CO) - “Has your garden ever been overrun by cucumber plants? 'Spacemaster 80' is the solution! Its 2'–3' vines make it the ideal choice for small growing areas including containers. It produces large numbers of flavorful, full-sized slicing cucumbers, perfect for snacking, salads, and sandwiches, and even for pickling when harvested small. Disease resistant.”
“Persian Cucumber” - (from Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - “This cucumber is a versatile one that can shine in salads, as a slicer, and even in the pickle jar. A narrow cucumber, it is mature at 4-6” long; Its dark green skin is smooth and thin, and pleasantly crip flesh surrounding a juicy, core. It has a mil, almost sweet taste, and contains little to no cucurbitacin, as is characteristic of “burpless” varieties of cucumbers.”
Eggplant
“Black Beauty” - (From Redwood Seeds in Manton, CA) - Classic dark purple to black fruits are large with meaty flesh, great for any eggplant dish or the grill. Bushy plants produce multiple fruits. Farm favorite for productivity and taste! We were introduced to eggplant parmesan this year. Words fail to describe how good this dish is and how perfect black beauties are for creating it!”
Strawberries
(from Cedar Place) These are babies that stemmed from our strawberry patch here in the garden. Give them rich soil, regular water, and mulch and they will produce well for you. These strawberries are sweet and juicy! Strawberry plants reproduce through stolons or “runners.” Runners extend out several inches from the crown, take root in the soil, and produce new plants called “daughter plants” - so look out for those, pot them up and plant them out when they’re grown and you’ll have a big strawberry patch in no time. This Strawberry variety is an ever-bearing variety.