carrol gardens usually has quite the variety. steve s.

Forget Carroll Gardens, they're out of business.
I just received Susan Inglehart's list. She has 11 heirloom tomatoes, basil, thyme, and parsley among others. Susan grows her own plants and so you must order by Feb 14, and pick up the plants May 5-8. She is in N. Balto County. (410) 833-3530, I highly recommend her.
Sam

I like Behnke's a lot. Their plants are usually very healthy. I've mostly done perennials and shrubs from them, but the one in Beltsville is very large and has really good selection.

Here is a link that might be useful: Behnke's Nurseries

May I also add Valley View Farms to the list of garden centers and nurserys. About 6 miles north of Towson on York road. Lots of good stuff including free guides on planting dates and guides in how to plant.

I'll second the Valley View Farms recommendation. They have the standard plants, but often have varieties that are not the main stream varieties.

Here is a link that might be useful: Valley View Farms

There is a place off route 97 just past Glen Burnie called Papa Johns with football field sized greenhouse after greenhouse of very low cost vegetable seedlings. They are 1/3 the price of Valley View and are the supplier to many of the retail nurseries. You can see the greenhouses from the highway. Just get off at that exit and it's a few blocks to the right. I'll get the exact address and post it.

How about the American Horticultural Society sale at River Farm in mid-April? I know they have a huge range of vendors,but I'm not sure about vegetable plant variety.

Thanksgiving Farms on Rte 85 south of Frederick has a wide variety at least of tomatoes and peppers, including heirlooms and non-mainstream varieties. Dutch Plant Farm in Frederick (on Rte 40 west of the old town center) has a wide variety of all kinds of plants, and is probably cheaper than Thanksgiving Farms.

I would have recommended my stall at the Urbana Farmer's Market, but just found out we're not opening until mid-May.

Papa Johns Nursery is at 8065 New Cut Road, Severn, MD 21144, Phone: 410-969-8810

They were about 1/3 the price of the retail nurseries last year and had an amazing variety of vegetable plants as well as plants for the landscaping.

Any thoughts on sources in Alexandria or Fairfax?

Where exactly do you live and/or work? I happen to work near Valley View in Hunt Valley, and I can vouch for their quality. I live in Lansdowne, SW Baltimore County, though, so I usually take a trip down to Beltsville to Behnke's each spring. In addition, there is a small veggie stand in Linthicum, Vince's, that gets a nice bunch of tomato, pepper, eggplant, and herb plants in late April. And what's the name of the big nursery Davidsonville? They're nice too, although I've never bought veggies there. If all else fails, there's Home Despot, Lowe's and Wallyworld. You don't have much choice of varities, but Lemon Boy and Better Boy tomatoes are pretty tasty for hybrids, and most sell California Wonder peppers and various herbs.

Then again, many of us (including myself) intend to bring veggie seedlings to the GardenWeb plant swap this year. In my case, I'm downsizing my garden, so it's more of a give-away. (Especially the tomato plants, as I want to encourage folks to attend MAGTAG V (Mid-Atlantic Gardeners' Tomato Appreciation Gathering) in Baltimore in August.)

There's a farm stand on Old Gunpowder Mill Road, south of 198 past the Fairland Rec Center, that has a lot of nice vegetable plants, relatively cheap. Lots of diffent tomatoes and peppers, good for herbs (You can't beat a four-pac of lavender for under $3).