Out of the thousands of seeds in the Baker Creek Seed catalogue, THESE are the 15 varieties I couldn't live without. And I know you're going to want to grow at least one of them.
Behold the seed packets; gardener's crack. I remembered to order my seeds early this year so if you happen to see anything you like here I recommend you order it right away before you forget because you're old and decrepit like me.
I have no affiliation with Baker Creek and I'm not getting any commissions for this, they just have great seed and always interesting varieties.
They will not be the only place I get seeds from this year. It's just the first of many of the trug pushers on my list to hit.
Baker Creek is also where I get the seeds for one of my favourite pumpkin varieties - Jarrahdale. A big, dry fleshed, sweet squash that keeps for months.
You've never met a bigger sucker for a blue pumpkin/squash than me. NEVER.
Again - if you think you want to grow any of these order them right away. Last year I didn't and in an act of desperation ordered Biquinho pepper seeds from Amazon in April.
It wasn't until 5 months after I planted, watered, coddled, transplanted and fretted over them that I realized they were just regular hot pepper seeds, not the cute little Biquinho.
Speaking of which ... they're the first seeds I added to my cart this year.
Table of Contents
Vegetables & Flowers
Anything that can be directly sowed into the ground in spring has the annotation DS next to its name.
I've also included a note a to WHY I bought this particular variety.
Biquinho Red Hot Pepper
Also known as Sweetie Drops, these are tiny sweet peppers with a touch of heat. They're normally grown for pickling.
WHY They are DELICIOUS on pizza.
Biquinho Yellow Hot Pepper
Same as the red, only yellow.
Leutschauer Paprika Hot Pepper
A hot paprika pepper from 1800s Hungary.
A sweet heirloom Paprika pepper from Basque.
Why They're the 2 best peppers to make a perfectly blended homemade paprika like I showed you last summer.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
A hot pepper that ripens from pink to purple to orange to red with different flavours with each colour.
Why - It just seemed fun. As a gardener, you understand, I'm sure.
According to reviews this Russian heirloom is one of the best tasting tomatoes in the world. 😳
Why - My 2nd favourite tomato is Black Krim, so I want to compare.
If you doubt that there's much difference in the taste of tomatoes try doing a tomato taste test this summer. You'll be shocked at how different they all taste.
In 2014 I conducted a very scientific (not at all) taste test of 6 heirloom tomato varieties: Black Krim, Pineapple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Costoluto Genovese, Indigo Rose & Green Zebra.
Lace Flower - pink and blue DS
Perfect puffs for in my English cottage garden.
Why - Lace flower gives arrangements a nice airy touch.
A bright yellow (even though it's called orange) chard.
Why - I've struggled to find a coloured chard variety that excels at growing.
A mustard green technically but it tastes like WASABI! Can be eaten raw or cooked.
Why - IT TASTES LIKE WASABI!
Chijimisai DS
A "new" Asian heirloom green that Baker Creek swears is going to be the new all the rage vegetable because of its vitamin levels and taste.
Why - Mainly I want to be able to say I grew it before anyone else.
Wine coloured sweet peas.
Why - They'll be a nice contrast to the softer coloured sweet peas I normally grow.
A favourite among floral designers.
Why - I like that they're fluffy looking.
A colour that reminds you of pink lemonade. Cosmos grow tall and gangly so they're not for everyone.
Why - I just LOVE the colour although I have to say I'm normally disappointed by most Cosmos varieties. One last shot though!
Petunia, Superbissima Giant Rose
A deeply ruffled HUGE petunia with sweet scent. Irresistible to pollinators and beautiful cut flowers.
Why - When I learned you could use petunias as cut flowers I wanted all of the petunia varieties but landed on this one and ...
Cosmic Cherry Petunia
It was all leading up to this. The Cosmic Cherry Petunia. The EDIBLE petunia that TASTES like CHERRY.
FYI the previous Petunia is also edible and BOTH have cherry flavour and can be used in salads. Or on desserts. Baker Creek even has a recipe for making
Why - I don't think I need to give any more reasons regarding why I bought these seeds
Quick List
Petunia, Superbissima Cosmic Cherry
- Biquinho Red Hot Pepper
- Biquinho Yellow Hot Pepper
- Leutschauer Paprika Hot Pepper
- Txorixero Sweet Pepper
- Buena Mulata Hot Pepper
- Black from Tula Tomato
- Lace Flower - pink and blue
- Oriole Orange Swiss Chard
- Wasabina Leaf Mustard
- Chijimisai
- Sweet Pea, Beaujolais
- Scabiosa, Salmon Queen
- Petunia, Superbissima Cosmic Cherry
- Petunia, Superbissima Giant Rose
- Cosmos Apricotta
Lay it on me. WHICH of these made you think I WANT TO GROW THAT?! Tell me in the comments below. ~ karen!
Audrey
I just ordered the Tula Tomato and the Cosmic Cherry Petunia.
Thanks for the recommendations! I'm excited to give these a try!
JillB
Definitely grabbing some Sweetie Drops! I'm also curious about the Chijimisai. And I have two other colors of scabiosa (that sounds like a spell from Harry Potter or an STD), and that salmon color is pretty! Baker Creek is one of my go-to seed companies as well; they do have cool stuff!
JillB
Okay, I also got the Cosmic Cherry petunias because that's just too cool to pass up!
Melanie
Those sweet peas look awesome. Already growing Russian Krim so I’ll be looking for your comparative review at the end of the summer.
Mary Beth Edwards
OK, one more seed packet you need to try. Purple Bumble Bee Tomatoes. Got these as a freebie with my seed order from Baker. Excellent!! I live in Colorado (6,200') and growing tomatoes is a challenge, but these did great and taste great (a bit tangy and citrusy - all yummy!).
https://www.rareseeds.com/purple-bumble-bee-tomato
Karen
Ohhhh I've done my order for this year. If I go back to the site I won't just order one more packet. I'll order another 15 packets. So I'll look at my local William Dam for those seeds, or hold off until next year. :) ~ karen!
Delin
Thanks for introducing me to Baker's Creek! I ordered the Black tomato and the Chijimisai from your list. I found an interesting dragon egg cucumber and I'm still adding!
Karen
I was adding to my cart for days before I finally clicked "checkout" ~ karen!
Mary W
Rose and cosmic cherry petunias and Chinese super green and both paprika peppers. I was sure there was a jigsaw in that seed packet picture. What's a matter you? LOL
Nadine
That’s what I thought!
Margery Breit
I love Black from Tula. More productive for me than Black Krim.
And in my opinion,better flavor.
I am zone 5 northern lower Michigan.
Karen
I'm pretty excited to try it because I really love Black Krim so if it's even a tiny bit better than that I'd be thrilled. ~ karen!
Anna
Don’t give up on cosmos unless you’ve tried Xanthos! They are shorter and more tidy looking plants with the same delicate feathery foliage. Flowers are a soft butter yellow. On the other hand, my Sensation Mix grew into a 6ft hedge of pink and white even after pinching! Glad mine were planted along the fence line for easier staking.
Chris W.
Your garden must look like a work of art with all this color. We only grow heirloom tomatoes and Black from Tula is hands down one of the very best. With all this beauty, I want to live next door to you! Please keep us updated on all these glorious plantings...
Karen
Oh I will. You'll be getting more updates than you want soon, lol. Very excited for Black from Tula! I've heard it's productive. ~ karen!
Ann
I have never started petunias from seed. Are they difficult? I did find out one thing last year that has finally allowed me to even grow petunias. They always failed me horribly in the past.
Seems they need iron, way more iron than any other plant. So there is actually a specific fertilizer than you can use on them to give them what they need. For the very first time ever, I was able to grow full, lush petunias for the entire season and without being dedicated daily to deadheading, although that is still something they do need. They also really do better with being pinched back on a regular basis.
But honestly, any one who grows petunias needs to look into Jack's Petunia fertilizer, available for sure on Amazon, but probably other sources as well. I doubt any one has enough iron in their soil naturally to give petunias what they really need.
Karen
Good tip! I'm really more of an "you're on your own" gardener when it come to fertilizer. All plants get my homemade compost and that's it. Occasionally I'll do a dusting of slow release organic fertilizer over the beds mid summer. But these petunias may be enough for me to break that rule. I have grown them from seed before. I grew them for my window boxes a couple of years ago and I was surprised at how well they germinated and grew! But yes, leggy and constant deadheading was needed. ~ karen!
KimW
The buena mulata peppers caught my eye, as did the cosmic cherry petunia. My "garden" is just a 4x4 plot in a community garden in Brooklyn, NY, plus the "communal herb garden pots" and "additional container flowers" that I am obsessed enough to have begged the leaders to let me get going and maintain.
For my own plot I'm doing all purple vegetables this year. I'd been planning to do beans and peas this year (I did tomatoes last year, and I heard that following that up with beans and peas was good for crop rotation), and then I discovered there is a kind of snap pea that's naturally purple. As well as a snow pea that's also purple. The beans I was planning on growing were runner beans for drying, and there's a kind that's also purple....and then I found a purple bush bean, a couple of varieties of purple carrots, a purple kale, opal basil, and a purple leafy spinach-type of thing. So I decided to really lean into it with the purple. (I may even try to make a little scarecrow that looks like Prince.)
Anna
I LOVE purple! Bull’s Blood beets (gross name, gorgeous plant) have a wine/purple colored leaf and stem - I grew them in my garden and used the tops as filler for moody purple bouquets!
Karen
LOL. The best thing I got from that whole comment was a Prince scarecrow.😁 ~ karen!
Connie
Woo-hoo! Ordered the recommended black from Tuma and those cute little peppers and the cherry petunia. How fun! I'm not a gardener.... this should be interesting....
Karen
LOL. As long as you pay attention to when you should plant the seeds and follow my seed starting post you should be fine. ~ karen!
Terry Rutherford
Karen Thank you, I’ve not seen “lace flower” and I’m a seed catalog (and garden) fanatic. Also “one last try” Mon oeuil. I say that about lettuce every year but then the seed catalog comes and … I think it’s a shame Stokes doesn’t put out a catalog as it’s just not the same online. They’re still my main source but it’s hard! Enjoy your seed starting soon!
Karen
HI Terry! They're related to Queen Anne's Lace and look very similar. I also grow Chocolate Lace Flower which grows as a light mocha colour to a chocolatey burgundy colour. And as for lettuce, I might start all of my lettuce seeds in my Aerogarden. They have done SO well. In fact, I'm even thinking of switching to a homemade hydroponics system for starting all of my seeds. ~ karen!
Jennifer
I’m torn. Baker Creek has a fun catalog, but the controversy over them has me steering clear this year.
Terry Rutherford
Yep me too
Kate
I agree!
Susan
What is the controversy?
Ann
What controversy? I just have to know
Sharon
They support racist domestic terrorists. You can google it for more info, but here’s an overview.
http://www.theredneckhippie.com/2019/04/baker-creek-seeds-supports-racism.html
Sharon
This. I stopped ordering from them after they invited racist domestic terrorists to visit them. I remember that at the time, when they got called out about it, they doubled down.
Karen, I sincerely hope you don’t continue to support these racists.
For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about:
http://www.theredneckhippie.com/2019/04/baker-creek-seeds-supports-racism.html
https://www.npr.org/2016/10/27/499575873/oregon-occupation-unites-native-american-tribes-to-save-their-land
Karen
Hi Jennifer! I've been hearing/reading various racist/conspiracy theories about Baker Creek for at least 5 years now. I've researched them and found them to be very light on facts and heavy on accusation. The stories are always found in a couple of forums or blogs, not news publications or journals. So I continue to order rare seeds from them. ~ karen!
Auntiepatch
Black from Tula Tomatoes, Lace Flowers, Sweet Peas, Jarrahdale Pumpkins, and Cosmic Cherry Petunias!
Karen
So pretty close to all of them, lol. ~ karen!
Elaine
Sorry, but you won't be first as I already have Chijimisai and I also ordered one of the giant petunias. Can hardly wait to taste them.
Karen
You have to grow them first to claim victory.😆 ~ karen!
Heather Taylor
I want to grow the cherry petunias!
Karen
Who doesn't!? :) ~ karen!
KimS
Black from Tula Tomato … because, well, best tasting tomato in the world…. I love that you grow specific peppers to make paprika. You’re so cool.
Shellie
The little peppers sound delightful. I'm loving the petunias too. Who'd a thought they'd taste like cherries! That's intriguing.
Kathy Corby
Well don't want to sound like a spoiled child, but petunia seeds are so darn tiny--- I tried them one year and swore them off. guess I have to wait till those cherries hit the nursery.... boo hoo.