Wildflower of the Month: July   Primula rusbyi         "Arizona Primrose"

"Hard to find", "rare", "inaccessible", "little known", "unknown", "unavailable elsewhere", but producing

flowers of extraordinary beauty, are some of the descriptive terms for the seeds in which we specialize.  Welcome

to the 33rd year of Southwestern Native Seeds.  Situated in the heart of the Southwest, in Arizona, third in the

U. S. after California and Texas in the number of native plant species with more than 3500, we've put together a

seed catalogue every year for 33 years now, featuring the best of these.  Beautiful wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and

succulents are what we look for; plants suitable for gardens--rock gardens, alpine gardens, butterfly gardens,

hummingbird gardens, arboretums and botanical gardens, aromatic gardens, specialty gardens of penstemons,

salvias, or other beautiful genera, as well as species suitable for nurseries, landscapes, scientific research, and

flower lovers everywhere.  These are not ordinary garden plants but authentic natives from the wild, many of which

are not available any place else, and many of which are far superior to conventional nursery stock but for the most

part have never been seen or tried in cultivation.  So what we've been doing for so many years is introducing

these unknown and non-invasive plants into the garden, and some of our past catalogues (before the drought)

have contained well over 400 species.  This is a region so immense, so natural, and so rich in plant life that we're

still discovering new flowers for the catalogue and haven't even begun to run out.  And the result of so many years

of plant hunting has been a steadily improving catalogue as our locality information accumulates and knowledge of

the plants and seeds grows.

This website now plays a very important part in all this, because it can include any seeds collected after the

paper catalogue comes out in early October (see "New Arrivals").  It also lists the approximate number of seeds

per packet, as well as the seeds that are sold out or are no longer available, locality changes, and a photo gallery,

so it is a definite asset and can serve as a substitute for the annual seed catalogue.  We do, however, have to be

away during much of the year.  The fact is that there are just two of us, and all these seeds are obviously not in our

back yard, so we have to do what it takes to obtain them, mainly lots of  traveling and hiking, hence our schedule

for prompt seed mailing, which can change from year to year, and which is listed under "Terms".