West Coast Seeds

My initiation with West Coast Seeds… not so great.
I think 3 years ago, I explored this Ladner Store and was quite impressed.
The following year I bought two packages of tomato seed. Well starting your own seed tomatoes certainly requires patience and persistence. So I waited with eager anticipation to taste the fruit of my labours. Inedible, so bad in fact I left them unpicked.
I phoned and told Ladner seeds very politely how disappointing their seeds were.
Read their spring 2015 catalogue… same glowing (totally false) report.
Then Thomas Hobbs of Southlands wrote that he would not grow any other cherry tomato than Sungold. What a fabulous tomato. I also planted seeds of a tomato called Jelly Bean (mainly because of the name). It too is edible but not nearly as wonderful as ‘Sungold’.
However West Coast horrible tomatoes that I let rot had seed that germinating and I don’t think their memory of tasteless wonder will fade.

Very helpful staff considering I’m a total noob when it comes to gardening. They always take the time to offer advice and assistance. Great gift ideas too.

Am I allowed to review the online service? Well doing it so there…
I have never been to the Ladner store because I lived downtown and the seeds were found in many locations. Now that I live in Haida Gwaii I have to rely on online orders which works just fine for me given I have a full selection of pretty much everything they have to offer.
First off, the website is awesome. TONS of resources, downloadable booklets on things like winter gardening, product info etc. Lots of info on how to grow whatever it is that you’re looking for.
The time it took to deliver to this far off corner of the world was less than 2 weeks which is pretty amazing! I had also ordered garlic but they didn’t have it in stock so sent me the other seeds plus some freebies. I also got a freeby in my last order even though everything came on time! I LOVE FREEBIES!
I’m telling you people, it doesn’t take much. Customer service is key ALL THE TIME. Acknowledging a shortcoming (no seeds in stock) and then compensating BEFORE the customer has time to complain about it… gold.
And I have found their products to be really consistent and well adapted to the BC Coastal weather. Definitely my «go-​to» when it comes to gardening.

West Coast Seeds is a boutique gardening supply in Ladner, perfect for spending an hour browsing their wide selection and chatting with the helpful staff.
Louise G. got it right, it’s an «extremely lovely store» with a lot of interesting knickknacks and things you never knew you needed, until you see it!
They have an extensive catalog of seeds, from offbeat to garden staples. They also have seed starting equipment, which as Rhiannon pointed out is a bit pricey, but it’s not like you have a lot of options for artisan garden supplies outside of downtown. So if given a choice, I’d always choose some handmade tools over some boring, Chinese-​made junk from Wal-​Mart.
The staff is great, they gave me some great advice about how to best grow peppers in Vancouver’s chilly climate. They even gave me a free pack of sunflower seeds just for stopping in!
They told me they want to flower the world, and that gets my vote!

I find that the shop offers a good selection of seeds that grow well in our area. They also offer pretty good workshops. And they sell seed starting equipment; although the equipment prices are high, they’re not as high as you end up paying if you have to pay for shipping. Some of the non-​seed things they sell are overly cute and precious – gift shoppy.

This store is a complete disappointment. Two friends and I drove from West Vancouver to get fall and spring seeds.
Though all the shop doors were wide open the toxic stench of chemical ‘perfume’ assailed us before we even entered. One friend went straight back to the car and waited for us. The other friend grabbed a few seed packages and paid for them while I waited just outside.
Second problem — The ample sales staff and few customers seemed to promise a relatively short wait, but it took over 20 minutes just to pay for 10 items and I’m still not sure why. I“m not impatient. I don’t mind waiting my turn. But I think staff should put their neighbours and gossip second to customers who want to make their purchases and get on to their other errands. It was really a bore for us.
The store has a frumpy, has-​been vibe and as I said, it stinks like cheap perfume. It exemplifies moldy, out-​dated values. I expected the store to be a good quality, serious gardening concern, but it seemed modeled on a Sears store.
We’ve decided to ignore it from now on and stick to Salt Spring Seeds, Mountain Rose Herbs and a couple other tried and true garden sources from CertifiedOrganicBC website.

Extremely lovely store. I love seed stores almost as much as I love bookstores.
West Coast Seeds believes in the principles of organic gardening and as such they only sell untreated seeds. They have wonderful varieties of heritage, heirloom and organic seeds for your vegetables and flower gardens.
Lots of supplies to help you including tools, and reading material.
The staff is wonderfully knowledgable and incredibly helpful. It’s an interesting experience listening to their conversations with other customers and you scan the racks of seeds — what you overhear are some interesting tidbits about other’s gardening practices and concerns as well as getting the sense that all the staff are genuinely interested in helping and are very passionate about what they do.
Today’s adventure there got us the following:
— Swiss Chard, «flamingo pink»
— Kale, «lacinato»
— Mescluns, «west coast market blend»
— Soya Beans, «sayamusume» (aka Edamame)
— Lettuce, «cardinale»
— Beets, «winterkeeper»
— Beets, «touchstone gold»
— Gai Lan, «midwater’
— Gai Lan, «green pearl»
— Pac Choi, «toy choi»
— Scallions, «apache»
— Tomatoes, «black krim»
— Tomatoes, «gardener’s delight»
— Wildflowers, «pacific northwest blend»
— Poppies, «giganthemum»
It’s going to be a very yummy year… perhaps this will be the year that we continue our garden into the winter — with our local growing conditions and the right varietals it is possible to have produce going year round.
West Coast Seeds is the place to find everything.