Seeds and Bulbs
Spring bulbs begin arriving in mid February. Our bulb buyers bring in an extensive selection of the most beautiful, well-known and soon to be new favorites for your garden and containers. Imagine summer and fall in your garden full of fragrant lilies, enormous dahlias, regal gladiolus, hummingbird-attracting crocosmia, and the dramatic prehistoric foliage of elephant ears to name a few.
Come in today to explore the myriad of spring-planted bulbs that will enhance your garden for years to come.
Seeds and Bulbs…
- Pick up some Spring planted bulbs to brighten up any rainy day.
- Start seeds indoors for cucumbers, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, and melons.
- April and March are ideal months for direct seeding salad greens that prefer cool weather,
- The 2012 seed lines are here at both locations! For specific availability at either location please call or stop in.
We also have a great selection of finished and starter plants of all sizes.
Seeds & Bulbs at Portland Nursery
Seeds & Bulbs
All year round, we have what you need to complete your garden. Seeds, bulbs, rhizomes of all kinds. Forget to plant in the fall? We have stocked blooming bulbs fresh enough to plant!
You'll find our featured bulbs and hints for their care and feeding.
Bulb Planting
Begin planting bulbs in April through May when the danger of frost has passed. Wait to plant until your soil is dried out from heavy rains. Bulbs require good drainage, so prepare your planting area by amending it with compost and pumice.
Download pdf of Planting Depths for Bulbs Chart
Each type of bulb has a different planting depth; in general it's approximately three times the diameter of the bulb. Prepare a planting hole a few inches deeper than the recommended planting depth. Mix compost, pumice and an organic fertilizer high in phosphorus such as bone meal or rock phosphate into the bottom of the hole, then add enough soil to bring the hole to the proper planting depth. Place the bulbs root side down, fill in the planting hole and water thoroughly.
Seeds
The 2012 seed lines are here at both locations! For specific availability at either location please call or stop in. This is an exciting time of year for planning your garden, and we will be delighted to answer all your seed starting questions.
For helpful hints planning your seed starting and garden refer to our Vegetable Planting Calendar. You can also find a wealth of information about growing food and individual crop care on our Vegetable page. Available at our stores is another invaluable and economical resource for seed starting and gardening, The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide, published by the Seattle Tilth.
We carry a wide range of seed starting supplies. Be sure to check out our sterile seed starting mixes, fiber pellets, coir pots, trays & domes, seedling heat mats, plant markers, soil thermometers, garden inoculant, floating row covers, and all-in-one seed starting kits. By the way, seed starting kits make a great gift for the special gardener in your life.
NEWSLETTER
Sign up and get 25% off pottery
SEARCH OUR SITE
Winter Hours
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. daily
5050 SE Stark, Portland, OR
9000 SE Division, Portland, OR
Brassica
SEED STARTING TIPS
Indoors: Mid February through March is the time to start seeds indoors for heat-loving summer vegetable crops like tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and eggplant. In Portland direct seeding these crops into the garden is not recommended due to our cool and short maritime northwest summers. In late February, you can also begin indoor seed starting of lettuce and some Brassica family members: broccoli, cabbage, kale, and kohlrabi.
Outdoors: Some cool season edible crops can be directly seeded in the garden before the average last frost date in Portland (April 15). In late February you can begin directly sowing these seeds in your garden: peas, radish, spinach, and arugula. Adding a floating row cover over your garden seed bed will assist with germination at this time of year.
Be sure to purchase netting, trellising, and/or stakes for your climbing peas. This is also the time to direct seed ornamental sweet peas for beautiful spring flowers in the garden.
Cover Crop Seeds
We carry a large selection of bulk cover crop seed for spring & summer planting. Spring and summer cover crops are planted after the danger of hard frost has passed (the average last frost date in Portland is April 15). A cover crop is a quick growing crop which is planted primarily to keep the soil covered for a short period of time, then plowed under as "green manure" or composted. Large amounts of beneficial organic matter are added to the soil when the lush growth of green, mature crops is turned under.
Organic matter improves soil texture as humus and stabilizes moisture content. The plant nutrients in these crops are returned to the soil, thus becoming a storehouse for nutrients. Legume plants are hosts to nitrogen-fixing bacteria which extract nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that can be used by plants. When used as a cover crop, legumes return the nitrogen to the soil.
Some cover crops, like oilseed radish and fava bean are deeply rooted. Their taproot is excellent at breaking apart clay, hard soils and providing much needed airspace. Cover crops planted in your garden will also serve as "living mulch" preventing erosion, nutrient loss from leaching and inhibiting weed growth. Refer to our brochure on Cover Crops For more information.