Seeds

Aji is a standard pepper throughout South America. One of the reasons it is not well known here is its slow growth and heat demands. Aji Rico really shows the best of what can be achieved through hybrid plant breeding. Compared to many of the open pollinated heirloom peppers, it boasts faster maturity, better vigour, and higher yields. The tasty pods are medium hot, maturing to full size as green chilies in 50-55 days. Add another twenty days for mature red pods, and the sweet, full-bodied flavour that comes with them. The fruits average 8-10cm (3-4") long, with thin walls and a conical shape. The plants are large in stature at 76-91cm (30-36") tall, so they benefit from staking or a trellis. These AAS Award winning peppers retain their floral, citrus flavour in cooking, and the heat level can be reduced by removing the seeds and pith. 500-1,000 SHUs

Matures in 75 days. (Hybrid seeds)

C. maxima. Jumbo Pink Banana Squash is an heirloom that has been around for over 100 years. The smooth, salmon pink skin covers fibreless yellow-orange flesh that makes beautiful pies. Pick when less than 80cm (30") long for best eating quality. Left to grow, they can get as big as 33kg (70 lb) in weight and over 120cm (48") long. This squash has a vining habit, and plants get big, so provide lots of room. You'll be rewarded with two to three spectacular fruits per plant. These are terrific storage squash, and will last all winter if kept in a cool, dark place. Wash the squash with a diluted solution of water with a few drops of bleach after harvest. This will kill off any bacteria, and increase the shelf life of these special fruits.

Matures in 105 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

The easiest way to produce fresh, high quality sprouts in your kitchen! In just 2-4 days you can enjoy healthful sprouts in soups, salads, and sandwiches. This sprouter has three separate sprouting trays that drain automatically for a continual harvest or for three different sprouting mixes at once. The Biosta Kitchen Crop Sprouter is really simple and convenient for sprout lovers. Constructed from BPA-free polystyrene (recycle #6) plastic. This sprouter comes packaged in a box that measures 24cm wide x 20cm tall x 24cm long.

Black Cherry tomato seeds produce hardy, vigorous vines loaded with gorgeous purple to mahogany brown cherry tomatoes 2.5 cm (1") round. Enjoy prolific yields all season long! Rich, juicy cherry tomatoes with wonderfully complex, sweet flavour and firm texture. The little fruits of this variety look exotic and taste irresistibly delicious. A great snacking tomato, excellent in bruschetta.

Plants typically grow at least 150 cm (60") and require caging or staking for support. For best results, allow these cherry tomatoes to ripen on the vine, and harvest regularly. Fruits are ripe when they turn dark red/brown in colour and they pop readily off the stem with a roll of the fingers.

Indeterminate (vine)

Matures in 65 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

The vibrant oranges and yellows of Canary Yellow Swiss chard seeds bring cheerful colour to spring and winter gardens. The young stalks are a deep orange colour while the larger, more mature stalks turn a bright yellow to contrast beautifully with dark green glossy leaves. This variety has exceptional leaf quality and it lasts for ages in the fall garden. The depth of colour increases as the plants develop throughout the season. By mid-summer the stalks should be deep, golden yellow. Try Canary Yellow as gold-streaked baby leaf salad greens, or let it grow to its full glory in the garden. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Matures in 50 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Choose Early Girl tomato seeds for a fast and early crop of delicious medium-sized red tomatoes. This is an early maturing variety for coastal grower. The plants keep bearing fruit heavily throughout the summer on manageable, disease resistant vines, producing baskets of tasty, 110-170g 4-6 oz) tomatoes. Early Girl is resistant to Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2. Some coastal growers choose early maturing tomatoes as a way to beat Late Blight. The disease usually strikes mid- to late summer, and by that time Early Girl has already produced the bulk of her fruit.

Indeterminate (vine). Matures in 57 days. (hybrid seeds)

Viola cornuta. This spreading hybrid pansy has exceptional overwintering ability. Ruffled petals in a wide range of colours bring a dramatic splash of vibrancy to the winter garden. Sow Fizzy Fruit Salad Mix Viola seeds in July and August for blooms from October right through to the following May. They look incredible in containers and hanging baskets, and particularly spectacular in mass bedding plantings. The wide pansy faces, fancy frilled petals, and dazzling colours bring a really special look to any garden. Much needed colour for an otherwise subdued winter palette. Be sure to plant your winter flowering pansies the previous summer.

Perennial (Grow as a hardy annual)

Lavandula stoechas. Sow French lavender seeds indoors, 6-8 weeks before last frost, or direct sow the seeds in early spring when a chance of frost is still possible. Uniform and distinctive, 'Sancho Panza' blooms from June to September on shrubby bushes that grow 35cm (14") tall. This variety of French lavender has a fantastic fragrance and dries particularly well. Great in containers, but in mass plantings the scent and colour are amazing. French lavender is also a very hardy perennial and drought tolerant, so good for use in xeriscaping. Cut back the whole plant by a third after flowering is finished to produce new growth.

Gardener's Delight cherry tomato has a wonderful, old-fashioned flavour and produces long trusses laden with clusters of 6-12 2.5cm (1"), crack-resistant, bright-red morsels. A mid-maturity variety that can be grown in many regions without protection.

Vine (indeterminate), Matures in 65 days. (open pollinated seeds)

Ghost Chili seeds are also known as the Bhut Jalokia. At over one million Scoville Heat Units, the Ghost Chili is one of the world's hottest peppers. This pepper is so hot, in fact, that it should be treated with caution. We encourage very careful handling of the seeds and fruits. Use gloves when handling the fruits and be extremely careful not to bring the peppers or their residue in contact with eyes or mucous membranes. The pepper is said to be 400 times hotter than Tabasco Sauce, and easily three times hotter than our sweat inducing Red Habanero. This is a slow growing plant that produces fruits at the end of the growing season. If it can be kept going over winter, it can be grown as a perennial, producing much larger yields in the second year of growth. 1,000,000+ SHUs

Super-hot peppers are tricky to grow. The seeds are difficult to germinate under home growing conditions and they need a long, hot season to produce fruit. To mature in most regions, protection is needed to increase heat and lengthen the growing season.

Matures in 100 days. (Open-pollinated seeds).

Habanero pepper seeds are central to the cuisine of Yucatan, Mexico. The little lime-green peppers ripen first to sunset golden, and then to "You've been warned" red. Mature 5cm (2") habaneros have a citrusy flavour and aroma. The seed is slower to germinate (up to 3 weeks) and should be kept at 21-24°C (70-75°F). Use bottom heat of a Seedling Warmer heat mat to accelerate germination. Plants need fertile soil and lots of heat to mature but are well worth the time - and the tears. For most regions in Canada, providing protection to increase heat and lengthen the growing season is necessary for success. At 100,000 - 350,000 SHU's, these powerful chiles are for spice lovers, and not for the faint of heart. Can be grown in containers.

Matures in 100 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

C. pepo. While they are edible and actually quite tasty, most growers choose Jack Be Little pumpkin seeds for the compact vines and tiny, undeniably cute miniature pumpkins that follow. Each flattened, deeply-ribbed fruit measures only 5cm (2") tall and about 13cm (5") across the top. If cured fully on the vine, the fruits will last as ornaments for as long as twelve months! Jack Be Little makes perfect little bright orange pumpkins for fall decorations, and each plant produces up to eight fruits. Be sure to keep one or two for dicing into fall soups or slicing thin for tempura.

Matures in 95 days (Open-pollinated seeds)

Ornamental and edible, Jade Knight has pretty dark green colour, deep ribbing, and a slightly flatted shape. Thick, high quality flesh is bright yellow with flavour similar to a kabocha squash. 3-4.5kg (7-10lb) fruit grow on full vines. Stacks nicely with Porcelain Princess and Mint Prince for colourful displays.

Matures in 90 days

Lettuce Leaf basil seeds produce very large, bright, puckered green leaves with a glorious aroma. Provide high soil fertility and a light, well-dug soil to get the largest leaves. We recommend using potting soil with two tablespoons of Gaia All Purpose 4-4-4 per liter of soil. Try this mix in containers in your patio herb garden. Tear the big leaves into salad mixes or use whole leaves to wrap savory morsels like brochettes or salad rolls. Lettuce Leaf Basil is a sweet basil, with milder flavour than the Genovese types. It's perfect for the home gardener, but it also makes an eye catching and unique bundle for the market table.

Manitoba Tomato seeds produce vigorous determinate plants that thrive in cool climates with short seasons. An early producer with excellent yields, Originally developed in the mid 1950's by the Morden Experimental Farm in Morden, MB to ripen during the short summer season. An excellent choice on the West Coast.

A prairie favourite, Manitoba tomato plants bear medium-large fruits 170 grams (6 oz). The bright red fruits have smooth skin and firm, meaty flesh with a refreshing, tangy tomato taste. Well suited for slicing and preserving.

Determinate (bush)

Matures in 60 days (Open-pollinated seeds)

Aquilegia x hybrida. All America Selections Winner. Tall, graceful and intricate, long spurred blossoms are perfect for cutting. Nodding and dainty, the huge 8cm (3") wide blooms are held high above delicate foliage. This mix is marvelous in woodland plantings or any shady location. McKana's Giant Mix Columbine seeds bloom mid-spring to early summer. White, cream, yellow, and red. Deadhead the seed pods before they open to control self-sowing. Or better yet, watch for them to open on the plants after they begin to dry out, and collect the seeds from the ornamental seed pods for planting around the garden or sharing with friends. Plant height 75cm (30").

Perennial

Parsley Pea seeds produce tendrils that are unique and delicious. Technically a snap pea, this curious pea is more often grown for its edible tendrils, leaflets, and flowers. Harvest whole plants when they are 15-20cm (6-8") tall or cut above the first node and get a second flush of growth. Plants will produce snap peas at about 60 days on 1m (3') tall vines if not harvested for greens. Try growing Parsley Peas in a 5-gallon patio container or in flower boxes, and harvest the fresh tendrils as needed. They make a fresh and crunchy addition to salads and sandwiches.

Matures in 24-60 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Tropaeolum majus. Salad Blend nasturtium seeds bring brilliant colour to summer salads. Salad Blend nasturtiums feature spurless, half-double flowers in tangerine, soft salmon, deep gold, deep mahogany, bright scarlet, cream and cherry-rose. Pick and wash a handful of these bright summer flowers and just tear them into pieces over a summer salad. The result transforms a simple salad into a work of art. Nasturtiums are very easy to grow, and quite drought tolerant, so they are a fine choice for xeriscaping. In the right environment nasturtiums will self sow and come back year after year.

Annual

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Mung beans, adzuki beans, chickpeas, red clover, radish, and green lentils — big, crunchy sprouts that are perfect as a salad topping, or as a salad on their own. This is the perfect mix of mild, but distinct flavours that combine for a deeply satisfying garnish or side course. This blend handles dressing beautifully. Grow Salad Blend organic sprouting seeds using the Biosta sprouter and harvest handfuls of perfect sprouts in only four to five days. This sprout blend has been a popular seller at West Coast Seeds for many years, and is much loved for its substantial sprouts and their mild flavour.

Certified Organic! In the Sandwich Booster Mix organic sprouting seeds are alfalfa, mung beans, red clover, and red radish. This is the combination that some studies suggest can prevent cancer and other serious health problems. And while it’s working wonders on your health, it also tastes good as well. Superb in salad rolls. A mixture of alfalfa, mung beans, red clover, and radish sprouting seeds. This blend has an appealing, crunchy texture, with a bit of succulence from the mung beans. This mix is superb for sandwiches and salads, and enormously healthy eating. Sprouts are easier to digest than mature plants, so your body will take better advantage of the powerful nutrients within. This blend provides vitamins, minerals, protein, and dietary fibre, all in a form that is easily digested.

Lathyrus odoratus. Unlike Mammoth, Supersnoop Mix sweet pea seeds produce a compact dwarf variety that is well suited to tubs, containers, and the front of the flower bed. It is an improved Snoopea type that blooms early in a wide range of colours. The plants have no tendrils, so they stay low and compact at 45-60cm (18-24") tall. Supersnoop produces flowers that are showy and mildly fragrant and well suited for cut flowers. Supersnoop are great for market growers for bundles of cut flowers. Direct sow sweet pea seeds between March and May at regular intervals to prolong the bloom period. Be sure to pick any seed pods that appear so the flowers keep coming.

Annual

Dianthus plumarius. Sweetness Dianthus seeds are the Fleuroselect award winning variety and much loved for their ability to produce flowers in the first year of growth. The variable, frilled, pink to white flowers appear from July to October atop stems that grow only 15cm (6") tall. Try it in containers or raised beds. Dianthus is quite drought tolerant, so it is a good option for xeriscaping. This variety of Dianthus is easy to grow from seeds. Mulch in winter if really cold weather is expected, or simply grow it as an annual with new seeds each spring. Hardy to Zone 3.

Perennial