Can you buy seeds this fall to plant next spring?

I am very new gardener and I was wondering if it was possible to stock up on clearence seeds this fall and plant them next spring? I have found some deals online and would love to take advantage of the discounts. And if this is possible how would you store them? Thank you for your help!!

Most seeds that were packaged for this season ought to come up fine next year so I'd say go ahead and stock up--you might get a little lower germination on some of them than you would if they were fresh, but I expect most of them will come up OK. Keep them somewhere cool, dark & dry until it's time to start them. Some seeds can be started in the fall too so you may not have to store them somewhere over the winter--check the packet and see what the instructions say.

thank you for your reply ecrane3 i appreciate u taking the time to answer my question thank you.

If you store the seeds in your refrigerator you will help to retain their viability.

I've done that many times with seeds. I put them in a ziploc in the fridge. I've even forgotten about them the following spring and planted them 2 years later.

missannis, I buy seeds year 'round!
I do very little sowing in June, July & August though, except for some of those seeds that really do like warm weather, to germinate & grow in the heat.
Some I bought on sale recently from Thompson & Morgan were only $1.00 each & the extras made nice gifts to gardening friends!
But some of the seeds are perennials & hardy annuals & will be sown soon, indoors now.
Or, others will be sown directly in the soil, once the temperatures have cooled down somewhat.
There won't be any need to 'store' these at all.
But if they have inner 'foil' packets, I leave them at room temperature.
Others that are in plain paper packets I would suppose, can be best kept cool & dry in the refrigerator, within a sealed zip baggy...

Seeds do not have to be fresh to germinate if stored right. I have sown seeds this past winter that I bought in 2002 and forgot about. They germinated fine in a damp kitchen paper towel sealed in plastic.

It depends entirely on the species in which you are interested.

If you are looking at vegetable seeds, annuals, and certain perennials, seed longevity is not an issue, nor is dry storage.

Other perennials will only germinate reliably from fresh seed and only moist storage will ensure viability of the seeds, while some others actually require a period of dry storage in order to overcome germination inhibitors.

The simplest answer is, until you get into more advanced sorts of seed-starting, don't worry about it.

In Canada you might not need a refrigerator to store seeds. In places that get warm, you will definitely extend their shelf life if you keep them cool.