Heirloom Plants and Seeds

for sale in The Garden Shop at

T. Bagge Merchant

Add old fashioned charm to your garden and help preserve biodiversity by planting heirloom plants and seed, and then saving the seed for yourself and sharing with others.

Thousands of years of human existence produced a vast biodiversity of fruits and vegetables; however, in recent time, varieties have become extinct at an alarming rate. Today in the United States, about 90% of our historic fruit and vegetable varieties no longer exist. Not only are we losing diversity, we are losing a safe food supply. The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s reminds of the dangers of mono-cropping.

Seed saving and seed banking are responses to the threat, with approximately 1,400 seed banks throughout the world. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is the most ambitious to date. In America, Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) is the largest non-governmental seed bank, and Old Salem Museums & Gardens is a contributing member. While Old Salem’s supply of heirloom seeds may vary annually depending on crop success, in recent years, Old Salem has provided the following to SSE: English Daisy, Summer Poinsettia, Red Valerian, Brown-eyed Susan, and a variety of cowpeas, beans, corn and lettuce.

The vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruits and grain grown in Old Salem are heirlooms, those old-fashioned kinds that frequently have stories associated with them and often surpass modern hybrids in beauty, fragrance and taste. Many heirlooms are scarce or hard to find.

Old Salem is committed to seed saving. Seed from Old Salem’s gardens is saved for future use and is also shared with the non-profit, member supported Seed Savers Exchange, which works to preserve genetic and cultural diversity.

Heirloom Plants, locally grown

~ for sale April - September ~

Heirloom plant material locally grown in the Old Salem Greenhouse is available to the public beginning Saturday, April 21, 2012 at The Garden Shop. Favorite perennial and annual flowers, herbs, and vines will be for sale. Many of these plants are the same ones found in Old Salem Gardens. [view/download Heirloom Plant List 2012 - PDF]

Heirloom Seed

~ always available seasonally ~

Buy Seed Savers Exchange seed in Old Salem, one of only three retail locations in North Carolina where you can buy them. The shelves are stocked in The Garden Shop at T. Bagge Merchant and a few select seeds are available at Old Salem Online Store.

The Garden Shop at

T. Bagge Merchant

626 S. Main Street

Winston-Salem, NC

336.721.7387

Hours:  Tues. - Sat. 10 am-5 pm; Sun. 1-5 pm