Dorothy, I bought mine from Willhite Seed in Poolville TX

Here is a link that might be useful: Willhite

Dorothy,

I was going to recommend Willhite and Carol beat me to it. When I order from them, I usually receive my order in less than a week and sometimes receive it in only 2 or 3 days. Their packets are full of seeds. I think the smallest Packman packet runs about $5 or $6 but it has a minimum of 300 seeds (often their packets seem overpacked to me, but I don't count the seeds to verify that), so it lasts me for several years.

Gypsy is supposed to be about 58-62 days from transplant, so I think the 90 days does mean from seed. I hope you'll let us know how it does for you. I know it is "supposed to" do well in the south, but so are some others that we haven't been happy with here in Oklahoma over the years. It is so hard to find a "new" variety that is reliable.

I told Tim last week that I was afraid Park was mistreating you again this year with the broccoli seeds since you hadn't mentioned they had arrived. Wonder what's going on with them that they can't manage to get broccoli seeds to zone 6/7 in time for planting at the right time year after year after year?

I heartily recommend Willhite, having grown their seeds for more years than I can count.

Dawn

There is a notice on the Willhite front page that they are running a little behind because of having to close for winter weather days, but they have always shipped very fast for me. I have had a few things backordered, but I consider them a very good company.

Learned today that my seed shipped the 16th so it surely should be here in a day or two. Thanks for the Wilhite recommendation. I have ordered from Park's for years without problem but this is twice and even if it gets here tomorrow, they've lost a customer because I don't need the worry. I first started ordering from Park's because of all the perrenial flower seeds they had and ordered a few vegetable seeds too. I no longer need flower seed as I've pretty much filled the place up and I want someone more dependable. I ordered from Park's in Dec so this is ridiculous. I ordered from Baker's after Park's and got my Baker's order in a couple weeks.

I bought a pack of Walthum in mena yesterday. After I got back home I checked it out and it looks like I need to move north if I expect my broccli to do well. I may plant some anyway to see if it will mature, I expect it will do better this fall.

Larry

Got my box of Park's seed today, opened it right away, expecting to soak the Broccoli seed. The Coronado pkt had 75-80 seeds instead of the 100 they claimed and the Packman pkt had.....ONE LONE SEED. I am so frustrated. Called Park's and they said they would put in a rush order but that is what I was told 3 weeks ago about the current order. It's my fault I guess for trusting them after the last time they did this, but I hoped it was a glitch not a pattern. I will look on the rack at WM that's where I found Packman the first time I ever raised it.

Of course if I wanted to plant broccoli plants, the local feed store has lovely big plants today, but I don't want to put them in the ground now. It's too early.

So Wilhite it is, thanks Carol and Dawn. And Larry, If the Waltham doesn't make heads, you can eat the leaves like collards.

Oh Dorothy, what bad luck. When I lived in southern Oklahoma, I bought a pack of seed that said it would plant a 20 foot row, and it only contained 3 seeds. I like these companies that pack heavier than they say, like Baker and Willhite.

Dorothy, thanks, I have been watching for Packman and Southern Comet broccoli, as well as Stewarts Zeebest okra as I prowl around the seed racks in the places I go, not much luck yet.

Larry

I used Johnny's and got mine in a week.I have about 288 seedlings getting their first true leaves.They are about three weeks since I planted them in their cells.I will be planting another 300 tomorrow.These will be transplanted out next week.I planted "Bay meadows"great for cool and warm weather until about early June.

Larry, would you like some Stewart's Zeebest seed? I don't know that I have enough - probably 25-30 seeds - but would be happy to send what I have to you. I am not able to grow this variety because of its size. I am really disappointed that I can't, but from everything I read about it, it gets pretty big. I am a container gardener, and I don't think it would do well in a pot, so I may as well give them to somebody who can grow them. I know this is a highly sought after variety, so send me a PM if you're interested. You may be looking for more quantity than I have.

Susan

Susan, thanks, I would love some seed, I would be happy even with 5 or 6 seeds. If it grows well I can save seed. I had never heard of it before I read about it on this forum. I will send you an email.

If there is anything I have that you would like please let me know.

Larry

Thanks Susan. I had planned to send Larry a package of Stewarts Zeebest, but guess I didn't. Sorry Larry, my life has been a little crazy.

Dorothy,

I sm just speechless that this happened to you. What are the odds that your packet of Packman would arrive with only one seed? That is so bizarre. It is like Park Seed is now cursed, isn't it? I had hoped when the investor group bought them and brought them out of bankruptcy that the recent bad trends would change, but maybe they aren't.

It sure makes me think twice about ordering from Park Seed in the future. I really used to like them, but haven't purchased much from them in recent years.

Dawn

And no Packman at WM either, only Calabrese which I have tried and didn't like. Oh well, I may buy some started plants in a month and see how they do.

Mulberry, I have Walthum and another unknow kind, I will send you seeds of both if you want them.

I never tried growing broccoli until this past fall so know nothing about it.

Larry

I tried to post this once, but I think there was some error on the server or something.

I am sorry to hear what happened. I was thinking of ordering from park and certainly will not do so knowing this went on.

I have tried to grow broccoli starting the seeds indoors with zero luck. So this year I am winter sowing them to see what happens. Or I may when the time is right try to direct sow them.

Carol and Larry, you're welcome! If I see someone who wants something that I got but is not suitable for pot culture, I am more than willing to send it to them. Can't see them going to waste when others can grow them.

BTW, Territorial Seed has B. Packman if interested.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Territorial Seed

Dorothy,

In a month I hope you can find some the right size. Some of the Packman broccoli plants I saw in local stores on Monday are already quite a bit larger than I'd let my own seedlings get before transplanting, and I expect whoever buys and plants those large plants will have issues later if we have one more prolonged cold spell, which I do think is likely.

Larry, Many of the varieties we mention here on this forum (especially for anything other than tomatoes) are seldom sold in local stores. We focus here on varieties that are "proven performers" in our part of the country, but most retailers carry only varieties, like Waltham broccoli for example, that will perform well over a larger portion of the country. Because our "cool season" is brief here, the plants that grow well over most of the country don't grow well for us or grow better for us in the fall. That's why we are seed-ordering and seed-exchanging fools in Dec. and Jan.----because we already know we're unlikely to find the specific varieties that do well here in the stores.

I remember the old days when I was a kid and the local stores sold seedlings raised locally right there in our city, using seed from regional seedhouses in Texas like the now-defunct Gene Porter & Sons Seed Co. and Willhite Seed. Back then, the only varieties you could buy were the ones that grew well in your area. Nowadays, the whole plant market had become more nationally oriented and as a part of that change, the wholesalers/retailers carry a much smaller selection of varieties and try to convince us that we can grow the same broccoli varieties here that thrive in cooler parts of the country, and that's not necessarily true.

Packman broccoli is particularly well-suited for Oklahoma and the surrounding states because it produces large heads--roughly 7-9" across, it produces very early--in about 55-60 days, and it forms good sideshoots that you can harvest for a few weeks after harvesting the main head. I've never had any disease issues with it here or in Texas.

Packman is available from many, many seed companies--probably from several dozen different ones, including Park Seed, Territorial, Harris, Willhite, J. W. Jung, etc., but I've only seen it in a local store one year, and that store had Willhite seeds and the Packman brocoli was one of the Willhite seed varieties they were carrying. The challenge is to order it and get it in time to plant here because even though lots of seed companies carry it and feature it in the catalogs and on their websites, they often don't actually have it physically in their possession as early as we need it. So, you can order it in Nov. or Dec., but if they aren't receiving it from their wholesale supplier until Jan. or Feb., you won't receive it until it is almost too late to plant it here. I usually order from Willhite and one packet lasts me several years, but I need to order more now for next year because I planted the last of my current pack for this year, and if something happens to the current crop of young seedlings, I'd be in trouble. I think I'll go to the Willhite site and order some in a minute while I'm thinking about it.

Ezzirah, Direct-sowing rarely works with broccoli in our climate. We just heat up too fast most years, and by the time the direct-sown broccoli sprouts, grows and is starting to form heads, the heat makes the heads bolt, which means they flower and go to seed. That's why we plant 3 to 5 week-old transplants...because that gives us a 3 to 5 week "jump" on the weather and ensures a good harvest.

If we put 3 to 5-week-old plants into the ground in March, we're harvesting in May before the weather gets so hot that it bolts before the heads get big. If your direct-sown seed is sprouting in the ground at the same time many of us are putting 3 to 5-week-old plants in the ground, then your plants will be 3 to 5 weeks behind. While that 3 to 5 weeks doesn't sound like much of a difference, it is critical to success.

When we say Packman matures in 57 days, that means 57 days from transplantation. From direct seed, you need to add another 30 days as a minimum, and then you have a 90-day broccoli that won't mature before the heat arrives, unless we have the coolest spring on record.

I used to routinely transplant my broccoli into the ground in February, but we always have a prolonged cold spell in March and that would often cause it to form buttonheads. So, now I plant 2 or 3 weeks later in early March, and rarely have buttonheads. I probably could plant broccoli transplants right now if I was willing to put low tunnels over the plants or cover them with frost blankets if a cold spell threatens, but I'm in a low-lying area where late frosts and late freezes are common and I lose patience with planting too early and having to cover up plants over and over and over again. If I were a market grower and rushing to get broccoli into the Farmer's Market as early as possible, I'd plant in February and cover it with heavy floating row covers/frost blankets on very cold nights because the consumer wants early broccoli in the Farmer's Markets. As a home gardener, though, I do not care if I harvest at the end of April or in early or mid-May. Either way, we'll eat all we can fresh and freeze the rest.

Park Seed has been around a long time, but has struggled in recent years, filed banktuptcy a while back, and was purchased by a new investor group last year. It is too early to tell if this company will ever rebuild its business to the level it once enjoyed, but based on Dorothy's experience with them, I'd say they have a long way to go.

With all cool-season crops grown in the spring in Oklahoma, it is a challenge to get a good harvest because our weather is often erratic and goes from "too cold" to "too hot" in a very short period of time. Therefore, precise timing of your cool-season plantings is of the utmost importance, and you also have to have a bit of luck on your side and some cooperation from Mother Nature as well. Planting something even 1 to 3 weeks "late", or direct-sowing something that performs better from transplants, can give a poor harvest to no harvest at all if the heat arrives just a couple of weeks earlier than expected in May.

Planting early has its perils too and often results in cold temperatures forcing cool-season biennials into dormancy and then bolting after warmer weather returnes. One of the hardest things as a gardener in our state is getting the timing of the cool-season crops figured out and then abiding by that planting schedule because Mother Nature often hurls lightning bolts, hail, sleet, snow, torrential rain, tornadoes, wind storms and dust storms at us during planting time. Sometimes I think it is a miracle we get our cool-season crops planted it at.

Dawn

I have the best luck with broccoli for a fall crop. I direct sow it in the middle of august.

spring time you might not get the size you want before they try to bloom. But fresh is still better than frozen, even if they head is a little smaller.

Packman,calabrese,and waltham have all produced for me in the fall. They are heavy feeders and need nutrients to produce full size.

I will plant packman and green majic this spring.this will be my first yr for green majic.

Thanks, Larry, but I am going to plant another pkt of Gypsy and be done with it.

Here in z6b I usually plant broccoli as 5-6 week old transplants the first week of April. That means right now is when I want to seed them. But the Gypsy seed that I planted last Monday is up and under the lights. Yesterday I planted 80 seeds of Coronado. If it all makes I'll have enough.

For info on Broccoli varieties, I found the linked list at the Cornell University vegetable gardening website. I think it's pretty good for just data on DTMs, etc.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Broccoli Varieties