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Seed Library Growing Companion: Collections

Lists of books and resources on starting, growing and harvesting vegetables and flowers in your own back yard! Created in conjunction with the Davenport Library Seed Library.

New starting in 2023 - Collections

Collections bring together an assortment of seeds that fit into a specific category. A variety of seeds are collected into a single envelope, making a quick and easy way to build your seed collection. Try one of our selections and tell us what you think!

Salsa Collection

Grow your own salsa! Grow this collection of plants in your vegetable garden and make fresh salsa all summer. These annual plants are easy to grow and will yield lots of delicious fruits and flavors. They will do best in full sun.

This collection contains seeds for the following plants:

*Tomato - Wisconsin Chief

*Tomato - Mexico Midget

*Tomato - Amish Paste

*Tomatillo - Green Husk

*Onion - Red Ruby

*Pepper - Challeano

*Jalapeno - Traveler Strain

*Cilantro

 

Cutting Garden Seed Collection

It doesn’t take a lot of room to have fresh flowers in your home all season! Provide some sunshine, moderate watering and a patch of soil in your established vegetable garden or flower bed (or create an entire garden for cutting!) and these easy-to-grow flowers will fill your vases with brilliant color. They are also much loved by native pollinators such as bees and butterflies. These flowers are all annuals.

 

This collection contains seeds for the following plants:

 

*Zinnia - Whirlygig Mix

*Zinnia - Seed Savers Exchange Mix

*Cosmos - Sensation Mix

*Sunflower - Valentine

*Snapdragon - Tetra Mix

*Globe Amaranth

*Bachelor’s Buttons - Blue Boy

*Celosia - Ruby Parfait

Prairie Seed Collection

Iowa is in the heart of the tallgrass prairie region with 70-80% of the state once covered by prairie. Recreate a tiny piece of the native landscape by planting seeds from our Prairie Seed Collection. Once established, these plants will return year after year, are heat and drought resistant and attract native birds, bees and butterflies. They will do best in full sun.

 

This collection contains seeds for the following plants:

 

*Little Bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium)

*Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

*Ox Eye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

*Purple cornflower (Echinacea purpurea)

*Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

*Blazingstar (Liatris pysnostachya)

*Purple Prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)

*Red Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

*Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)