Woohoo! Ocean State Job Lot is much farther from me than Kmart. Great tip!!!

The closest K-Mart is a half-hour drive away. OSJL is 15 minutes, is on my way home from work and the seeds were 40% off. I already hit their seed racks a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if Wal-Mart will put seeds out earlier this year. Last year I stopped once a week in January & February but they didn't have seed racks out until March at the earliest. I couldn't have been the only person asking about them so we'll see if they catch on that folks are looking for them a couple months before they put them out.

Like I really need more seeds...

Here they don't put them out until end of February, but
I will check anyway.

I've looked at Lowes, Walmart, Big Lots, and the dollar store but haven't found any. I'll have to hit Kmart tomorrow during my lunch hour as it's right down the road. Thanks Littleone!

Some of the Lowes in the Houston area have their new Burpee seeds out.

Margaret

I just got the ad from Walgreens and they have 5 packs of seeds for $1 with an in ad coupon (page 8). Heading out now to see the seeds, not sure about the selection or quality, but heck for $0.20 / pack, it can't be too bad, right?

Oh and Hyponex potting soil for $0.99 / bag with in-ad coupon. Not sure if this is a great deal or not.

American Seeds, the ones on sale at Walgreens have always given me excellent germination results.

Many times their germination results are far better than the big name seed companies.

Just be aware that the number of seeds in the packets can vary from just a few seeds to a lot of seeds, and depends on what seeds you are buying.

It's always better to buy more of each packet of seeds you want to be safe with the numbers.

They don't pack them in foil packs inside the packets though, unless they started doing it this year, but that has never affected the germination results.

As a matter of fact, I put out a lot of their seeds that where packed for 2008 growing season last spring, 2010. Results where all but perfect germination with them.

Now if only my local Walgreens gets them in. They don't have them now and the delivery truck doesn't come till Thursday.

Fran

Hi Fran, I just came back from our local Walgreens and they did not have them in yet, either. However, after some research, I found that in mid- to end January, the seeds go on sale for 10 for $1. At least they have in the past few years. (Thanks Frugal forum)

I figured these cheap seeds may be a great started for those who, like me, are just starting out with wintersowing and want to see how it works out. :o) I'm going to drop by my Walgreens again on Wednesday to see what stuff they have. The ad is good until Saturday, but I think we can expect to see this sale regularly in the coming weeks.

And yes, the frugal forum said just what you say: These seeds germinate wonderfully.

LilBlossom - just a word of caution that there have been numerous posts on this forum about Hyponex potting soil being really terrible for winter sowing. Hope you didn't buy/use any from the Walgreens sale. I can't say from experience because I started off with Fafard professional growers mix but others have related their own poor opinion of the Hyponex.

I'll check out Wal-Mart & Walgreens. I like the selections Home Depot puts out.

Thanks Gardenweed. I knew it had been mentioned, but could not remember if they were good or bad reviews. I'll steer clear of that then! :o)

Can't find the Fafard's mix here yet until the spring. So I am using Miracle Grow potting mix. It feels more like garden soil than potting mix, but it came highly suggested to me by a botanist.

I'm checkin' my local Walgreens for seeds, man!

I bought Hyponex last year at the dollar store, and can attest that they are certainly only worth $1! The soil compacts very easily, so I amended it with plenty of perlite, and there is absolutely no fertilizer with it, so I used it mainly for plants like cosmos and Morning glories, which like poor soil. This year I'm trying WS using MG cactus soil, to see if the drainage is better.

Already got a few containers out myself: canterbury bells, malva zebrinas, columbines, and liatris. Had to wait after the sudden spring like weather this past weekend!

gardenunusual - I went to a nearby nursery supply warehouse back in August & loaded 3 bales of Fafard in my car, brought it home & set it inside my garage so that when winter sowing time rolled around I wouldn't be frantically scrambling to find frozen potting mix. Bale #1 is finished off and bale #2 is inside ready to rock 'n roll! If I don't use bale #3, it'll be there when I need it next December. Now I just need to save up some more milk jugs.

Just came back from my local Kmart. All the Burpee seeds are ringing up and the register at 40% off the price on the package.

I've always found that most of the time, the prices of Burpee seeds are much cheaper in the stores, even at the price marked on the package and you generally get more seeds in the packages as well than you get by ordering directly from the company.

Hyponex potting soil is not what it was when I was growing up, years and years ago. It was wonderful stuff then.

Somehow and for some reason, that wonderful stuff has turned into one of the biggest disasters one can buy for plants, indoors or out.
It is full of weed seeds that germinate as soon as you use the soil to pot up your plants and water the soil, has horrible drainage and leaves the roots of your plants sitting in water and soggy soil so they can rot, and if you use it for WS, well then you get adobe bricks for soil, and no germination.

Started with Bean, I would not use the hyponex soil, even mixed with perlite for any WS or Spring sowing. And it is really a myth that Morning glory seeds prefer poor soil and the same with cosmos. They both need some fertilization and nutrients to grow and do well, what they don't need is constant fertilizer all the time. Time released well balanced fertilizer is good for both cosmos and morning glory.

I've grown tons of MG vines and cosmos in pots and and when I do, they all get miracle grow potting mix and grow and bloom beautifully.

The other thing is MG cactus soil is not going to do well for you for WS either.
I gave it a try with a couple of containers last year, ran out of soil and wanted those seeds done that day. I just wanted a couple of extra containers of those seeds that where already sown.

I got zero germination of those seeds in the MG cactus soil, but the same seeds sown earlier in the day in MG potting mix, all germinated 100%.

I've been using Miracle Grow potting mix for my WS for 7 years, now starting year 8 and I wouldn't use anything else. Never had any problems and my germination rate has always been near 100%.

Fran

They closed most of the kmarts here. I liked Kmart, and was sad they closed! So now it's too far to drive to get to one. Our Lowes put it's seeds OUTSIDE, in the heat and humidity and moisture and near where they must spray water plants. I refuse to buy their outdoor seeds. I don't think the new garden manager has a clue about gardening...(the old one was great!)

Girlgroupgirl, you can imagine how happy I was to find when I moved there is one 20 minutes away.

Already called them and Walgreens.

I just love how the phone conversations go.

Me: "Good morning! I am curious to know if you have seeds available yet?"

Customer Service : "Huh? Seeds?"

Me: "Yes, seeds for planting, like flower seeds, vegetable seeds. Does the store have any on display yet?"

CS: "Hold on, let me check. (pause) Nope, we don't have any. It's too early. We might have them the end of this month or February."

Me; "Okay. Thanks very much for checking. Have a great day!"

I even had someone once direct me to the baking aisle for 'flour seeds'.

Thanks for the tip on Kmart Fran, I guess I'm going to have to head over there today. I hope you left some for me. [g] I'm also going to try the Walgreens.

Potting Soil....I grow organically and I object to many of the bagged potting soils because of all the additives they put in them. Fertilizers, wetting agents, etc. Some brands are pretty good, maybe that Fafard mix might be okay, but I found it expensive. I know one of our local nurseries mixes their own and sells bags of it in the summer and I tried that, but found it didn't work well for me, not enough perlite. So we mix our own. I get big bags of peat moss and perlite and add in some of my own compost and mix it up in a wheel barrel and wet it slowly as I'm mixing it and let it sit in the sun until it's just barely damp. It's very easy. We mixed up a new batch back in October and filled up a Galvanized Can for winter sowing.

I also tried Hyponex the first time I winter sowed. It was really cheap on sale that year and I had my doubts if winter sowing was going to work, anyway. [g] It was horrid stuff! None of the containers I used it with germinated at all. Other containers that had other soil mix, did. Never again.

Ugh! thanks for the info Fran! I hope the containers I've already put out won't be complete duds! I'll save the cactus soil for outdoor use later in the season and get some MG potting soil for the rest of my containers. I've found that my flowerboxes don't like the potting soil out of the bag, but is happier when I add a bunch of perlite to it.

I tried Kmart yesterday and Walgreens today... neither had received their shipment. Kmart did tell me that the store a few towns over had already received their Burpee shipment, so they're expecting there's any day now.

I stopped at Ocean State Job Lot on the way home from work this afternoon and brought home another seed saver case so I can put seeds that need cold stratification in the one I've got and the seeds that don't need a cold moist period in the other. It's a struggle but I try to stay organized. I picked up more seed packs since they were still marked 40% off. If I don't WS them all this year, they'll still be good for the year after. The pet/garden supply store where I buy my bird seed says they'll have the rest of their seeds in another week or so but those won't be 40% off.

The closest Wal-Greens to me is not that close. Once year we went looking for seeds, the gal said she THREW THEM OUT because they were too much of a pain to find a place to cram on the shelf.
I had near about a heart attack.

Make friends with the employees in your garden center or Garden dept.

Home DePot also have their Burpee seeds in.There is also another brand but I always buy Burpee.Have such great success with them.Was so glad when I went to get my potting mix to see those seeds.I have not been able to do swaps for the last 2 yrs. and have very few seeds to sow.They don't have a great variety and none of the new gotta have seeds on the racks,but it does have some good basic stuff.I did get some herb seeds that I really wanted.
moonphase

For those looking to buy the walgreens seeds:
My store also has not yet received their shipment, but since they are a coupon item, they gave me a raincheck for the coupon price 5/$1.00. My walgreens is very close so I'm not concerned about getting back there to check, but for others who aren't close it might be a good idea. The raincheck never expires!

Also! I got a brochure from Gardens Alive! with a $25 off $25 purchase. It could also be used towards shipping. I ended up ordering 5 packs of seeds, and with shipping my total was $24.70... Free! :oD They have a very basic seed collection, but heck, for free, I'll take it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardens Alive!

A word of caution about Gardens Alive--they have over 50% negative feedback on the Garden Watchdog site AND they're affiliated with Michigan Bulb, Springhill Nursery and that whole conglomerate. It might be wise not to set your expectations too high but be sure to post if you have a positive experience.

They are also linked to Thompson & Morgan, whom I understand got sold a while back. I've used the British T&M for years, and always been happy with them. (I used to live in Europe) Yet, the American T&M has only 4 positive and 14 negative reviews!

I bought 2 grab bags of seeds from them just before Christmas, and although I haven't sown any of them yet, the order arrived promptly and I had more packets of seeds than were promised in each grab bag. I'll get back to ya'll on how the seeds germinate and the outcome. :o)

I have not had good germination rates with T&M and have stopped buying seed from them. Especially on their seed for sale. I bought 3 expensive packets of Delphinium seeds and not one of them germinated. I sent away to Australia for the same seed, where it originates and had great germination. They are also really expensive, so I look elsewhere now.

Not to be a Negative Nellie,but... Michigan Bulb was the first company I ever ordered from and I have to say. Well, it's inappropriate, I can't say. Ordered some toad lily, waited a long long time,then I got a check in the mail for like a buck or something for the shipping, saying they ran out. Meh. Still wishing for toad lily. The plants I got were half dead as well.

Most of the things they have in their catalogue are easy to grow from seed. I'm not impressed.

Hi everyone ! Just wanted to stop in and tell you that Lowes has started putting their seeds out ! We walked by them on the way to the potting soil display ( I was picking up another bag just for wintersowing ;-) ) and my SO saw me eyeballing the seeds and he says to me " Do you NEED more seeds ? " HA ! He knows the answer to that .

Iris

Walgreens here by us does not have their seeds in yet either, said the shipment should be in next week. Gave me a raincheck as well.