Best value websites for bulbs/seeds

[MrsScotland]

Hi everyone

Where do you all buy your spring bulbs plus seeds for things like poppies, foxgloves etc? I have previously bought from Farmer Gracy but mostly buy bulbs from Morrisons. Anything that I plant directly into the garden is eaten - I think by voles! But the pots were great this Spring.

I have a fairly big garden and trying to bring in a lot more colour in that full,cottage garden look (enjoyed the other thread about that today). I have a great local plant nursery but they don't do much in the way of bulbs or seeds.

Thanks

B&M, and the DIY stores can be great for plants, seeds and bulbs.

Have a look at Dutch Grown for spring bulbs.

Agree with B&M, and I seem to remember people posting previously on here about having good results with bulbs bought from Lidl.

Unless you are looking for an unusual variety, it is probably easiest and cheapest to do that.

Yes I’ve heard Lidl’s bulbs are good too.

Don't give up on having bulbs in the ground. Daffs would be a safe bet as they are toxic and won't get eaten. With other bulbs it's worth trying just making life more difficult for hungry rodents: plant more deeply (many bulbs, even small bulbs like Chionodoxa and Scilla will be fine planted 10cm plus deep; Iris reticulata and I. histroides actually benefit from being planted very deep), plant in the lawn, plant wrapped loosely in chicken wire...

For pots the real bargains are always the collections. If you like tulips then buy as many multiples of your chosen bulb vendor's mixed tulips as you can afford and stuff your pots and troughs. Collections of mixed bulbs are also good. I'd use a mail order specialist - the quality will be much better. A more specific recommendation would depend on what species you're mainly interested in.

Seeds - for years I'd have recommended Chiltern Seeds without hesitation, but the reliability went downhill during the pandemic and hasn't recovered. Of the big names I'd look at Nicky's or Thompson and Morgan if your wants are fairly simple , but ttbh, if you're after foxgloves and poppies I'd bypass them and just use Special Plants, which has a decent selection of both as well as plenty of other tempting options.

Generally lidl/aldi/morrisons for bulbs. I have lidl tulips from 6yrs ago which still put on a lovely show each year. Suttons currently have a sale on and £3 for certain packs. 'Some' are good value, but you need to check the pack size. Lidl have bulbs currently and some are 8 in a pack for £1.97 whereas the suttons specials are £3 per bulb or for 8 or 16 in the pack, so do check.

For seeds, I started with lidl at 29p a pack and did have flowers and veg grow back then. I like Kings seeds as more variety than lidl. I've also used the 'real seed company' which sells non hybrid plants, so you can re-use the seeds for next year. For some plants though, they were are strong as hybrid varieties.