Buying herb seedlings when they’re not normally available at garden centers is possible, although kind of a pain. However here’s my workaround to make it easier. As I post this is it still winter, and I’m all about getting things rounded up for spring. High on my list is to have fresh basil, and where I live the garden centers only have it available when companies like Bonnie Plants decide it is time. I noticed seedlings became unavailable when winter really kicked in, and only in the last week have I seen any return to local locations, and those are all the hardier things like mint and oregano. I could grow sweet basil from seed, but that’d probably take longer than i’d have to patiently wait for seedlings to appear.
The solution is grocery store produce departments. Walmart at least where I live seems to carry fresh herbs of various sorts, and they’re sold still growing in tiny pots. The intention of course is that someone buys (basil in my case), takes it home, uses it all and discards it. But what I see are seedlings that are perfectly viable to keep as plants. In my example a live herb from Walmart (Soli brand is what they stock for what it is worth) costs in the $3 range at the present time. A similar potted live herb from Lowes at the moment seems to cost upwards of $8. The grocery store incarnation of some basic herbs (mint, basil, oregano, cilantro) seem to be available year round. The garden center versions, are not. So that’s the wisdom, loot the grocery stores for herb seedlings.
Where I live a few different grocery chains have live herbs, notable Publix and Trader Joe’s in addition to the aforementioned Walmart.
