Why are growing numbers of people choosing to buy seeds from Irish seed savers?

A spectacular display of yellow and orange flowers in early summer. Very attractive to bees, hoverflies, and other beneficial insects. Also used widely in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dishes, lightly cooked in soups, stews, and hotpots giving a unique aromatic flavour. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 350

A hardy perennial, once seen never forgotten! This 1m tall open bush has silver rimmed leaves and fantastic, fragrant, dense spikes of crimson red flowers, which are rich in nectar. Best grown in a sunny position but likes moist soil. A member of the legume family, this plant is also nitrogen fixing. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 40

Given to us by ‘Peace Seeds’ in Oregon, USA, these plants provide an absolutely stunning display of dark red, orange and yellow concentric-striped flowers, blooming in vivid profusion from May to October. Tall plants up to 1m high, with the pungent ‘tagetes’ smell that can help to put off pests. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 150

This very unique white variety was donated to us by Philip McSheffrey of Donegal. Philip’s uncle John had brought it over from Greenock in Scotland in the 1970s, and the family have grown it ever since. Although there was one year when the family’s seed harvest failed, luckily they had given some seed to a 94-year-old lady who saved this rare flower from extinction. It has the most stunning display of pure white, foaming flowers, from which you can harvest the shimmering cellophane-like seed pods for displays. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 50

This striking native wildflower loves the edge of shady places - hedgerows banks, woodlands, mountains and moors. An elegant plant with dozens of purple, inner-speckled, tubular flowers that cluster around a tall stem, reaching 1.5m in height. As a biennial, the plants will produce foliage in their first year, with the magical flowering spikes developing in the second. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 100

This lovely tall flower likes shadier conditions such as hedgerows, woods and grassy banks. The attractive, pink-red, 5-petalled flowers are 2-3cm across and bloom from May to September. The plants themselves can grow quite large – from 30cm to 1m in height. Seeds are best started in pots, left to overwinter outside, and planted out in plugs in the spring.  As this species is dioecious (with male and female flowers on separate plants) it is important to grow out both males and females if you want the plants to self-seed (which they do readily!), or otherwise select only males to limit the spread. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 100