Comments regarding Territorial Seed Company

Seed packs are pricey and in larger quantities than I oftentimes want as a backyard grower, but the germination rates have been good, everything grew true to type, and customer service was excellent. I don't buy here often given that their cost/quantity isn't aligned with my needs, but I'm happy with the seeds that I bought.

I've had decent success with their seeds in the past, but recently I bought a packet of their miner's lettuce seeds. I put them in a pot with some potting soil, and guess what? Not a SINGLE one germinated!

So, a couple of weeks ago, I ordered some more miner's lettuce seeds from another company, and they've already started to germinate! For whatever reason, the seeds I got from TS were not viable.

Anyway, I'll be careful about ordering from them in the future.

I ordered and planted seeds for Snow Peas, Bush Beans, Cucumbers and Zucchini and had virtually no germination from any of them. Seeds from other companies germinated well.

I order from various seed companies each year. I start thousands of vegetable and flower seedlings under lights each year.

i've ordered from Territorial Seeds a number of years. All my orders arrived within a couple of weeks. They have great cultural info on their website. I've had good germination rates and love their extensive selection.

I can't comment on their customer service because I never had a problem.

I want to say it is disgusting and disheartening to read the rude, vicious, and almost hysterical comments some people make when leaving negative reviews.

First of all, people with complaints should CALL THE COMPANY FIRST. Don't rely only on emails. If you are still unhappy and without a resolution, THEN they should post the facts here and their rating. NO ONE should jump to wild conclusions and accuse a company of being a cheater, liar, or deliberately fraudulent.

All companies post their shipping costs in the ordering process. No one is twisting your arm to force you to buy from a company whose shipping costs you don't like. If you don't like it, then don't order. Move onto a different company.

I like Territorial seed for several reasons, most of which outweigh their high seed and shipping prices.

Their catalogs, both print and online, are a wealth of information about what they sell as well as each vegetable variety in general. I have also called them for clarification on some things and the people I have talked to are very knowledgeable and friendly.

I garden in the Pacific Northwest and I like that the seeds are grown in our climate and soils. I have had good success with everything I have grown from them, so far, especially with their short season varieties of plants that normally prefer a longer, warmer growing season.

They change their offerings frequently, which may be positive or negative. I miss some of the varieties I can no longer get but the new ones they offer are sometimes better. I assume that they are swapping out for better performers each year.

I have not had any problems with items I order not being available, but that may be because I order my seeds early, always by the end of January, as soon as the current catalog arrives.

I just wish they didn't have such high shipping costs. I try to order for my entire year's garden, including overwintering varieties, all at once so I don't have to pay additional shipping on top of their high seed prices. It takes a lot of planning on my part and not much flexibility as the season progresses. If I need to get something later on, I buy from someone else and Territorial loses my business. How much does it really cost to send a couple packets of seed?

Outrageous shipping costs to Canada. Was planning to order a couple of packages of tomato seeds and shipping was shown as $22.95 US. I checked their published shipping policy and the amount aligned, $7.95 + $15.00. Seems like very little risk they'll get a Canadian order any time soon.

Ordered various flower and veggie seed from Territorial this past winter. Happy to report that they all germinated quickly and I now (June) have robust plants from their seed. I'll use this company again.

I wish I could add a photo. I received two "plants" from this company. What they really are is sprouted seeds, one in each pot. The shipping was more than the cost of the plants. $15 for nothing. Won't make that mistake again.

I've ordered from Territorial a few times and had good experiences with their seeds (germination, etc). My orders were complete and I haven't had to contact customer service. Shipping was slow, but that wasn't unexpected since I'm on the other coast. But I did notice that their supplies tend to be more expensive than the same items from other companies. If I can get it elsewhere, I generally do, and have saved $10-$20 per item. I did feel rather cheated on some plastic cloches. For the high price - roughly $40 for 3, I think - I was expecting something sturdy that would last for many years. Nope - they're very flimsy plastic. And a tiny plastic vent in the top doesn't justify the high price. I would have better better off sticking to used milk jugs.

I have only ordered from Territorial Seed a couple of times, but my recent experience really solidified my good feelings. Following is a portion of an email I sent them: I wanted you to know how outstanding your customer service people are. I placed my order the day BEFORE you on-line sweet pea offer went into effect. Being one of those people you has always operated under the premise of “if you don’t ask, it won’t happen”, I called and asked if there was any way I could be included in that offer. Unfortunately, my order had already shipped. Oh well. The lady on the phone was so nice and I COMPLETELY understood why I had just missed the offer. No bad feelings on my part; just not lucky. My seed order arrived two days later. Two days after that, my sweet peas arrived, complete with a note “in memory of your great grandmother.” I remember telling your CS person about my great grandmother and her sweet peas – as well as that I hadn’t really thought about either until I saw the offer. Yes, that really was/is true.

Posted on January 17, 2017, updated January 19, 2017
Despite seeing some bad reviews of this company, I began ordering from Territorial about 6 years ago and they have become one of my go-to places for seed.

Territorial has probably the best catalogue out there - tons of information for the gardener on planting and a large selection of heirlooms and hybrids and the seed is viable for several years (case in point, I've had almost 100% germination on 2 year old parsnip seed and 4 year old carrot seed). The seed prices are very comparable with other seed companies (I sit down and compare across 15 catalogues every January). While many have complained about the shipping costs, I am finding that the shipping isn't so outlandish.

My one complaint with Territorial is on its lack of transparency about stock. I place my orders via the internet and while other companies indicate whether something is out of stock and the date it is expected back in stock, Territorial doesn't do this. Indeed, order confirmation emails also stay silent in the matter and it is not until an order arrives that there is any indication that there is an order problem; you have to call to actually get any information in when they expect an out of stock item to arrive). On a couple of occasions, Territorial has left me without onion seed at a time when I have a very short planting window and I have had to cancel and order elsewhere, increasing my shipping costs. As such, I typically order only items from them that I do not need quickly, or items that can be sown several times during a season.

This year I have gone against my own advice and once again ordered Onion seed (now Copra isn't available I needed a replacement and they specifically mentioned that they have a variety that is similar/better than Copra) and hope that they will actually fulfill the order (I do have another variety of onion seeds from another source that fulfilled my order placed the same day as the Territorial order that has not yet shipped).

Have ordered from this company for almost 20 years. Overall, I have had good experiences. I have even had them send me, free of charge, special seeds, not in their catalog anymore, because I asked for them. I will agree, the shipping is a bit much but, I love supporting a small business that provides seeds that really grow in my unique Seattle climate. Besides that, most of the seeds they have sold me have lasted for years and continued to germinate way beyond my expectations of seeds I left sitting on my shelf in the garage.

Ordered an "Olla" for my vegetable garden - it is a clay pot designed to be buried, filled with water, and then the water seeps out through the unglazed sides to water the plants around it. I was intrigued by the idea as a water-saving tool during our hot summers. At best, it waters less than an inch around the pot, which is pretty useless considering its impossible to plant so closely to the pot knowing the mature size of the plants. I wish it functioned the way they claim in their catalog.

I've ordered seeds and recommend Territorial Seeds for over a decade without incident.
This year I ordered some live plants to round out my vegetable and herb gardens.
They let me know when the plants were coming and the packaging was great.
Just over a month later we've already started eating beautiful eggplant and will have tomatoes in the next two weeks.
I've never seen tomato plants take off like these are doing. The stems are so strong that we didn't even need to use the tomato cages. By the way all 3 different varieties that we got are much higher than the cages already.

Posted on January 17, 2016, updated January 17, 2016
I have ordered from this company numerous time without incident. I will not be ordering from them again after this last time where my card was erroneously charged nearly an additional $100 on a Saturday before holiday weekend, leaving that account in the red for a duration of several days, causing me to accrue fees and multiple charges being rejected at great expense to my own reputation. (Due to the bank holiday, all deposits were delayed until Tues, and this account is kept at a low margin due to fraud concerns. Other small dollar orders that were outstanding on that account were rejected due to the overage before I realized it had been charged in error)
Yes, they promptly responded and issued a refund-that won't hit my account until Tuesday night at the earliest. Furthermore, the methodology by which they placed the hold for the charge was unusual and not one my bank was able to reverse. There is no fixing this. I have no idea how many other people this happened to due to a 'third party error', but my $100 order of seeds that I could have placed anywhere else wasn't worth this headache. I have no idea how many people were affected by this, but I am disgusted at being forced to be this company's line of credit for a long weekend due to some 'third party billing error' that leaves my account in a negative limbo-and paralyzes all things tied to that account for several days. I cannot in good faith ever support this business again when I could have went with any number of sellers and not had this headache.

sero seed is part of territorial seed company. Sero is supposed to be made by sustainable companies. they are not! the farm does not have animals to produce any fertilizers for produces seeds. sad, very sad to lie to everyone. people can drive by and look at their production farm to see for themselves. i was able to see by taking my niece to school which is about afew hundred feet away from there farm. Nothing but greenhouses and fields to grow plants. No animals, maybe a couple birds flying. Just want truth out there for everyone to be aware. Be weary of who your supporting.

Have placed two seed orders with this company since getting their catalog last year. No complaints thus far. I do like that on some varieties they offer an organic seed option.. but begs the question, why not go 100% organic?
I'll definitely still order some of the interesting varieties but won't do all of my shopping there since companies that are not 100% organic won't get 100% of my money. :)

I placed an order on the first of the month, and I still haven't received it (it's now 4/20). Even though the shipping prices were extremely high, I still opted to place my small order with this company because they had some cool varieties. Last week, I mistakenly received an order totaling $50 from their company. When I called to notify them, the person on the phone was, for some reason, full-of-attitude and seemed very flustered by the situation. The person repeatedly asked me a very illogical question, "did you open the package?"

Well, yes, that's how I determined it wasn't my order.

"How did you open the package?"

"With a knife," I replied. It just didn't make sense. She, at first, seemed upset that I opened the mistaken order. Haha, okay!!

She talked to someone else and they told me to just keep the order, which is kind except I have nowhere to plant 90% of the seeds (most were big brassicas like cabbage and kohlrabi, I have a small city garden).

She was about to get off the phone when I had to ask again about the status of my package. She said the order had not been packed until the 14th, and that she tracked the package and it was set to arrive the 17th (the very next day). I was pacified by that. Then two business days go by and my order hasn't arrived. I emailed customer service to just make sure it is really coming, and I get a very brief and casual response saying it should arrive in another day or two.

People, I live in Philadelphia, not Beijing.

No one let me know there was a processing error and that it took two weeks to package my order. Both times I contacted customer service, the responses were unsatisfactory.

To conclude, I don't like leaving negative reviews, but I feel like gardeners who might be on a serious timeline should be aware of the shortcomings of this company.

Posted on April 10, 2015, updated April 12, 2015
Back in December I tried to order plants. For some reason my card would not go through and they sent an email about that. Thinking the issue ended I just moved on. Fast forward 04/04/15. Found a charge on my card for 41.55 from Territorial . So I emailed them to cancel the order. No reply. Then an email from FedEx that the plants had been shipped. At no time did Territorial warn me they where going to try to recharge my card so I was unprepared for the extra expense. This money was earmarked for a utility payment so it did cause problems.

I will say the plants came in healthy but a lot smaller than I would expect given the price charged. I will not be doing business with them in the future because of this incident .

The garlic I ordered and received (promptly) in 2014 was really nice. I planted it on Oct 27, 2014. When I pulled off the mulch in early March, the garlic had sprouted and I had 99+% germination. It is beautiful!

I've never had a problem with their seeds, but the shipping is just ridiculous. Example:
I place an order with Territorial and BC on the same day, both with flat rate shipping, both roughly the same number of seed packets.
Territorial- $7.95
BC- $3.50
I receive the BC order in less than 5 days. Territorial is still in transit (~7 days), but it was supposed to be delivered today. Why can another company do it for half the price?!

Was concerned at the excessive cost (lowest price: $7.95 via USPS) to ship 8 packages of seeds at a weight of <7 grams. While it took 2 days to receive a response to my 2 email (yes, I resent after receiving a not asking if there was an issue as my cart still had pending items). The eventual response I received was laughable. Not only did they email an attached form letter, they could not even be bothered to fill in the blanks to customize it to their customer who raised a concern:
Territorial Seed Company
"PO Box 158 Cottage Grove, OR 97424 phone (541) 942-9547 fax (541) 942-2614

Dear :

I know it seems unfair to you to pay $7.95 for Packaging and Insurance for a small amount of seed. What you need to understand is that there is much more involved in processing your order than postage.

You see, it takes about the same amount of time to do the following tasks to process your small order as it does to process our average order of $50.00:

a. Open your envelope
b. Enter your order into our computer system
c. Print an invoice and picking list
d. Labor to pick your order
e. Labor to double check your order
f. Labor to package and label your order
g. Labor to process your order through a manifest system
h. Apply postage to your shipment
i. Take your shipment to the post office or FedEx

After reading this I hope you understand our business a little better. We do appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

Customer Service"

Love that the company is fairly local. They have lots of great seeds that have done well in my garden. And their catalogs contain plenty of information on growing their seeds. So, thumbs up for everything, except...

The cost. I just put in an order for 20 packets of seeds, which they charged me $7.95 to ship. I'm still blinking. An hour ago I put in an order for 27 packets of seeds to Baker Creek, and they charged me $3.50 to ship them across the country.

The Territorial seeds also seem more expensive (for OP, conventional seeds). Not hugely, not enough to keep me from ordering them, but in combination with the shipping costs...I think my next order, I'll stick to seeds from Baker Creek. Their seeds have mostly done well for me, too.

I ordered seeds and a floating row cover on Jan. 26, 2015. The nice lady who took my order did a very nice job and was very cheerful. I received an email that they were shipped on Jan. 28, 2015 and they safely arrived in a sturdy box on Jan. 30, 2015. The pretty colored seed packets were nice quality, had the seed name clearly stated at the top making it easy for me to keep them in a file box, and had considerable information about each with a picture on the front. Their colorful seed catalog was my favorite seed catalog that I received this season and I spent hours enjoying it. They carry a wide variety of flower and vegetable seeds This is the best seed company that I have ordered from in a very long time. I would definitely order from them again.

Posted on April 10, 2012, updated January 23, 2015
Posted on March 28, 2012, updated April 10, 2012
Posted on March 28, 2012, updated March 28, 2012
Posted on June 21, 2010, updated March 28, 2012
Posted on June 11, 2010, updated June 21, 2010
Posted on June 11, 2010, updated June 11, 2010
I have to agree with Daniel. I'm trying to investigate some problems I had with an order and to attempt to have a normal conversation with them. It's like the person who responds is drunk or something? I get bits and pieces of a response (which I guess I should be grateful for) and it really doesn't address the questions I had about the problems with my order and now I cannot get another response. Fortunately, it was a small order for 4 seed packets, only 3 were available. But, based on the poor communication, I would put them in the category or "Don't Bother". I also charge on my credit card for a reason. Can you say - Chargeback!?

"On Mar 28, 2012 8:00 AM, Territorial Seed Company responded with:

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences with our company. In regards to the zinnias that you ordered, I assure you that we do germination tests on every lot of seed that we get and our company's standards are higher than the federal germination standards (as Stephany apparently mentioned, we had a 92% germination rate on the variety in quesiton). I have not heard of any other germination problems with our zinnias this year so I am hoping that your case is isolated.

Regarding the "contact us" button on our home page, I just clicked on it and it went straight to the page: http://www.territorialseed.com/contact which has all of our contact information.

I see from your last comment that you were refunded on your order which I am glad to see since we stand behind our products 100%. You are certainly welcome to your opinions but I assure you that we are not hiding, lying, or deceiving as you mention above.

Best regards,

Josh Kirschenbaum
Territorial Seed Company
"

In September, I ordered seeds for fall planting and 1/2 lb. garlic bulbs. I had excellent germination with the seeds (90-100%) and the plants are robust and producing beautifully in my fall garden. The garlic was shipped last week at the appropriate time for planting in my zone and I'll have to say, they are the healthiest looking bulbs I've ever seen and were well packaged to prevent any bruising in transit. The flat rate shipping on my order was also a nice bonus. Their customer service is great! My emails were answered promptly within an hour and I like the fact that they stand behind what they sell with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I will definitely be placing future orders with Territorial - just wish I had tried this company sooner.

Outlandish shipping costs.
I work for the post office and I know EXACTLY what it costs to ship what.
You can get MANY seed packages into a Priority envelope for $5.60 and they are free to the shipper, so there really is no cost other than the employee putting them into the envelope.
A Priority PADED envelope ships for $5.95
A small Priority box is $5.80
I will purchase elsewhere next year.
This seems to be a chief complaint to this company but they don't seem to care.

I ordered Queen red lime Zinna seeds and a Pink Jasmine. The Jasmine was about 20 inches high with flowers already! Excellent packing, I will order from them again!

The seed I've bought from them really does well. When I once had some non-germinating seed, I let them know and it was promptly replaced.
I LOVE that I can order a single variety of tomato, pepper or other plants that are commonly sold in blocks of 4 or 6. It's a chance to try new varieties that are not locally available. I have discovered many new plants that now are mainstays in my garden such as Creme Brulee bell pepper. It's so much fun to try new items. Maybe something turns out to be not so great (like black tomato varieties for me) but it was worth finding out anyway. Go to the local place get all of the Beefsteaks and Celebrity tomatoes.
I have planted seed from packages that are several years old with good results.

Excellent company. I usually place 2 orders a year and they are always filled promptly and arrive within a few days.

Great selection of OP seeds.

Seeds do well in hot, dry Phoenix, especially many of their tomatoes. I have a bumper crop of Oregon Spring tomatoes this year. Seeds always have excellent germination and high quality plants.

Shipping is a bit pricey but many companies have hiked their shipping charges.

They sell high quality products with good service. Overall, Territorial is first-rate.

I also ordered seeds from territorial that had a 2013 date on the package,I went ahead and started them and had a 90% germination rate,a little better than seed purchased from another dealer.so thumbs up.

We ordered from them last year (Spring 2013) - Rutgers Space Tomatoes and several packets of seeds. The shipping seemed high, but we did agree to it before we ordered so cannot complain. The tomatoes were small when they arrived, but quite healthy and grew amazingly quickly when we planted them. They gave us quite a lot of absolutely wonderful tomatoes. The seeds also did well. Shipping was extremely well-done, well packed, and prompt. The quality of everything we ordered was exceptional. I have no problems recommending them.

BUYERS BEWARE OF OLD SEEDS! I received an order of seeds today, Nov. 22, 2013. When I looked at the packets I realized that they were packed for the 2013 growing season and not the 2014 growing season. I called customer service and explained that I was not happy about receiving the old seeds. It is dishonest of them to push last planting season's seeds at a time of the year when customers are planning next season's crops. Customer service made it clear that this is how they operate. I ordered seeds from Baker Creek Seeds on the same day that I placed my order with Territorial Seeds and Baker Creek sent me seeds for 2014. You decide who is the more reputable company. Territorial Seeds told me I could send them back but after I thought about it - I decided it that I had already paid $7.50 shipping on 8 packets of seeds and it would probably cost $5.00 to ship them back. Then I would have spent over $12.00 in shipping charges and have nothing for my money . I have been a loyal customer for years. No longer!!! Territorial Seeds' policies and customer service are clearly anti-customer. GOODBYE TERRITORIAL SEED COMPANY!

"On Dec 27, 2013 4:32 PM, Territorial Seed Company responded with:

Dear gardener, first and foremost; if you are ever unsatisfied with your purchase from Territorial we will refund that purchase to you promptly.

I believe I can explain why you received the ‘packed for’ date that you did, but to do this a bit more insight into industry seed packaging procedures is required. At Territorial we purposely strive to package our seed as close to the start of the year ‘packed for’ dated as possible. To illustrate; our 2014 catalogs are scheduled to be delivered in-home the last week of December 2013, so you can understand how the months of November and December of 2013 are the busiest packaging months to start the ‘packed for’ selling season of 2014. By law with a fresh seed germination test we could in fact start packaging way before that, say clear back in July 2013 for the entire 2014 season if we desired to, and quite frankly this is standard operating procedure for many seed firms. Having seed packaged and on the shelf for 18 months is not unheard of at all, especially for those companies with a national seed rack distribution program. The reason we don’t operate this way is that at Territorial we tend to purchase and grow a lot of our own fresh ‘new crop’ seed, and these new seed crops come into our warehouse towards the end of the calendar year. The resulting just- in- time seed packaging ensures that filled seed packets are on the shelf or even rack displays for the shortest time possible, staying as fresh as possible before being sold to you. This short time period in the packet is further enhanced by the fact that we normally pull seed packets off the shelf at our normal end of seed selling season, which is sometime in November, and we resume seed sales again with the following “packed for” seasons seed as it becomes available in December. Your order seems to have been processed in this time period just previous to discontinuing one season and starting another. All these procedures here at Territorial help to ensure that the majority of our seed sold is fresh as possible. So please keep this in mind when you see seed packets on store shelves in September or October with the next years “packed for” date on them, or even when you receive them mail order dated this way. Just by looking at the ‘packed for’ date as you described does not tell you how long the seed as been really packaged, nor how fresh the seed is.
Tom Johns
President
Territorial Seed Company"

Over the winter I placed an order for a number of different items: tomatoes, peppers, mint, olive trees and they were almost all scheduled to ship at different times. I was very happy with the pricing, item accuracy, shipping and condition of plants upon arrival. I would definitely recommend them. My only issue is I would have like a little better communication (email) on when things were going to ship because I travel for work and was afraid items would be taken care on arrival (minor issue).

I've tried growing French Tarragon over the years, without success. Either the plants turned out to be NOT true French Tarragon, or the plants died!

I finally had success with a French Tarragon plant I purchased from Territorial Seed. They shipped it on time as promised. Although it looked as though it had died during the winter, it sprang up this spring as soon as the weather warmed. Today, (April 26 2013) I snipped the first leaves.

//www.territorialseed.com/product/1515/1515

I agree with other posting reviews that shipping costs are ridiculous here. I would order from them more often if it wasn't for this. That being said, I did know the cost of shipping when I ordered, so I am not reviewing based on that. My seeds came in good time and they have germinated well. I also love their selections. I ordered from them regardless of shipping costs, because I really wanted to try purple peacock broccoli. I was really shocked by how many seeds they gave me. I paid a lot of money for that packet and it was stingy. I also really liked the lettuce selection. The decriptions are so very helpful in deciding. Some places just describe looks/flavor. I need to know about weather conditions. I would order again from them, but it would have to be something really, really interesting to get me to pay those shipping costs, especially when I know how few seeds are in each packet.

Although Territorial Seed Company is pretty pricy – especially with some of their cucumber seed, which can cost up to $1.00 per seed – I have had a relatively good experience with their products.

Each year I have purchased seed from Territorial the seed has grown as described and some of the varieties I have grown from them have become some of my favorite. Territorial offers many hard-to-find open-pollinated vegetable varieties that are well worth trying out. That is what keeps me coming back to them year after year.

Overall, I would not buy seeds from Territorial if they did not have want I want to buy. Their shipping and their seeds are expensive. That being said, they have always done a very good job keeping their seed varieties pure and have always provided me with high-quality seed. I’m sure they would have much more business if they lowered their prices a bit!

Thanks Territorial.

I have ordered from this company for at least the last ten years and have always been extremely satisfied with their seeds and customer service. While their shipping rates are high I pay them to get quality seeds that I know will grow AND produce for me reliably year after year. Last year my husband even ordered a product from them in early December for a Christmas present and even though their catalogs weren't published yet and they had limited staff, if any, they made sure we received our order before Christmas eve. Two thumbs up!!!

Posted on March 5, 2012, updated March 7, 2013
Posted on March 12, 2011, updated March 5, 2012
Posted on April 12, 2010, updated March 12, 2011
Posted on June 23, 2009, updated April 12, 2010
Another order to Territorial filled completely and quickly with no backorders (this late in the season!) and arrival here from the W.Coast in 4 days (including the weekend) from placing the order!

Also, called and talked to a customer rep who was terrific!

I cannot recommend this company enough! Wish they had a Southern counterpart!

"On Mar 14, 2011 7:45 AM, Territorial Seed Company responded with:

Hello, and thank you for the nice comments! Onion plants are shipped directly from our supplier to you and they ship according to where you live. We send our supplier orders a couple of times per week and they are usually very prompt at getting the plants out. Feel free to call to find out specifics about your order."