2025-2026 NARGS Seed Exchange Main Round Ordering will open Friday, December 19th!
Please read these instructions carefully before placing your seed order. Refer back to this page if you have any questions/problems, as most of them can be answered from this page or in the 'How to Order Online' and 'Visual Guide for Ordering Seed' pdfs.
Main round seeds are $20 (US dollars) for 35 packets for seed donors/volunteers, or 25 packets for non-seed donors. The Main round of ordering will END on January 24th, and the Surplus round will begin on March 1st.
Main Order fulfillment will be done in January by the members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter (Colorado). All seed donor/volunteer orders will be filled first. The Surplus Order fulfillment will be done by the Allegheny chapter (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area) in March. We wish to thank them in advance for all their hard work, as well as acknowledge the many donors and packaging volunteers who also made this year’s Seed Exchange possible!
We have prepared a Visual Guide for Ordering Seed pdf for those who want to see all the steps involved in placing an online order, or a text guide How to Order Online, with complete instructions on placing your seed order. Details on how the seeds are listed can be found on the General Seed List Information page. Go to the Downloadable Seed List Files page to see the list of species name changes used in this year's seed list, as well as files of the seed list and donors list that can be printed or downloaded to your computer.
PAYMENT
Credit card payments. You will directly enter your card information Review page that follows.
Postal regulations have recently changed. We are now being charged ‘Package/Parcel’ rates for all shipments, which means a big increase in our costs. US orders may cost up to $8.40, Canadian orders cost $17.85, and overseas orders cost between $19.30 and $22.60, depending on the country. Please consider adding a donation on the first checkout page to help us cover this added cost. Thank you for your continued support!
NEED HELP?
If you have any trouble with the ordering process, please do not hesitate to ask for help immediately by contacting Laura Serowicz using the Contact Us link – Category: Seed Exchange - to leave a message. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
We do not recommend using an iPad or Tablet to complete your order. If you encounter problems with checkout, use the Contact Us link – Category: Seed Exchange - for assistance.
Not sure what to do with your seeds once they arrive? Check out the Seed Exchange Helpful Links page for website and article links to Germination guides, as well as to Seed Collecting & Cleaning, and Seed Identification.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS
Members within the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia: Phytosanitary certificates must accompany all shipments of seed entering any of these countries. NARGS will cover the Phyto cost for sending one shipment from the Main Distribution to each country if a member in that country volunteers to be the Consignee who receives the seeds and redistributes the orders to the other members in that country. Several members have offered to be the consignee for their country, so we should be set for this year.
Orders from these countries will be filled in their proper order (by date of arrival, Donors first, etc.) and then held until the closing of the Main Distribution. The Agriculture Inspector will inspect the seeds in early February and issue the phytosanitary certificates. After the seeds pass the inspection, they will be shipped to the consignee for each country along with the phytosanitary certificate, with each order in its own mailer, so all the consignee needs to do is apply postage and post them on to the member. Seed orders will not reach members until mid-to-late February. Moist packed seeds cannot be sent to these countries, so please do NOT select any moist packed seeds or any other seeds that are prohibited from entry into your country.
Due to the cost of the phytos and extra work involved in obtaining them, we regret that members residing in the EU, UK, Japan, and Australia will NOT be able to place orders in the Surplus Distribution.
Members in Australia: The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) policy is to return the whole shipment if even one packet is not allowed. Be sure to check the BICON website for the list of species you are allowed to import before placing a seed order. Do not select species that are not allowed into your country (which includes all Allium spp) and list many second choices to ensure you receive your allotted number of packets. We will only send seeds of the species you select (no substitutes) to avoid the whole shipment being rejected and returned to us or destroyed. Since we are sending all the orders for Australia in one shipment with a Phytosanitary certificate, this will affect all the other orders in the shipment.
Members in New Zealand: Be sure to check the MPI Plants Biosecurity Index for the list of species you are allowed to import before placing a seed order. Do not select species that are not allowed into your country, and list many second choices to ensure you receive your allotted number of packets. We will only send seeds of the species you select (no substitutes), so list plenty of second choices.
SURPLUS SEED
Many seeds are still available at the close of the Main Seed Distribution. If you would like to participate in the Surplus Seed Distribution in March, mark the checkbox on the order form to either receive an email reminder or receive the printed list by mail. Ordering runs from March 1st to March 15th. The list of seeds available in the Surplus round will be on the website a few days before the opening of ordering. Seeds. Surplus Seeds are $12 per 20 seed packets, 100 packets maximum.