PALMAE. Small, hardy, bushy desert palms.
—Nannorrhops Ritchiana. (10) NANN-21. Packet: $4.00
'MAZARI PALM'. Clumping multi-stemmed palm to 10 feet or more, with pinnate 6 foot fronds and orange fruits. Afghanistan, Iran, India, in dry cold regions. Zone 8. Needs heat to germinate over a long period.
NELUMBO (ne-LUM-bo)
NELUMBONACEAE. Large, strong-growing aquatic plants with large round leaves held above the water, and huge flowers followed by ornamental flat-topped seed pods used in dried arrangements. Good in large ponds and shallow water where the tubers will be out of reach of frost. Can be grown in large tubs. File through outer layer of seed coat (not to the quick) and soak in water. In a few days to a week they will swell and float (in nature dispersing them), then they sink and shoots emerge in about 10 - 15 days. Plant in pots or weight with clay and drop in a pond. Seed viable 150 to 1000 years.
—Nelumbo nucifera. (10) NELU-17. Packet: $3.00
1/4 Pound: $40.00 (about 125 seed)
'HINDU LOTUS', 'SACRED LOTUS'. Fragrant pink or rose flowers 4 - 10" across. Round leaves 1 - 3 feet across, held 3 - 6 feet above the water. Ornamental seed pods. S. Asia. Zone 8. The flower is held sacred throughout the East, being the symbol of the world, its wheel-like form representing the eternal cycles of existence. Deities are often represented seated upon its center, and in China it is the symbol of purity, truth, and summer. The seeds are eaten raw, roasted or boiled and are said to taste like filberts or pine-nuts. The roots are eaten sliced, pickled in salt and vinegar, or pounded for starch. The tender root-shoots are eaten boiled, and the stems are eaten in Japan, and are said to taste like beets. The petals are used in soups and the stamens for flavoring tea. The leaves are used as plates, and all parts are valued in Chinese medicine.
Click for photos on how to germinate Nelumbo »
Step 1, Use a file:
Proper amount of nicking:
Soaking the seed:
And a week or ten days later, they sprout:
Voila!NEMESIA (ne-MEE-see-a)
SCROPHULARIACEAE. Showy, easily grown tender annuals and perennials grown for their profusion of brilliant, two-lipped, tubular, spurred flowers. If started indoors in March and planted out in May 4 - 6" apart, they will smother themselves with bloom from June to September. Best in sunny, sheltered places; they do not like excessive heat. Blooms best in cool weather. Excellent for cut flowers or winter blooming pot plants. Good for bedding, borders, containers and bulb cover. Germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at cool temperatures. Seed half-life is 2 - 6 years.
—Nemesia Tetra Carnival Mixture. (1000) NEME-6C. Packet: $2.50
5 grams: $7.50, 25 grams: $28.00
Brilliant shades of red, pink, bronze, cream, lavender, orange and white. To 8". Makes a stunning display planted in masses, A rich mixture.
NEMOPHILA (ne-MO-fee-la)
HYDROPHYLLACEAE. Showy, low-growing annuals valued for their bright, abundant, bell-shaped flowers. Good for naturalizing, they are best in masses. Continuous bloom from spring through summer. Sun or part shade, ordinary soil, moderate water. Easy from seed, sow where they are to grow.
—Nemophila Menziesii. (500) NEMO-16. Packet: $2.00
Ounce: $6.00, 1/4 Pound: $18.00
Click for photo »
'BABY BLUE EYES'. Bright blue 1 1/2" flowers with white centers, blooming abundantly over a long period. Low annual to 10". California. Nice for edging, borders or sown in drifts. Drought resistant. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks at cool temperatures.
NEPETA (NE-pe-ta)
LABIATAE. Aromatic annuals and perennials with pretty blue or white flowers. Easily grown in most soils, sun or shade. Sow where they are to stand. Seed viable 5 years.
—Nepeta Cataria. (1000) NEPE-3. Packet: $2.50
Ounce: $7.50, 1/4 Pound: $25.00
'CATNIP'. Dense whorls of small white or pinkish flowers, July to November. Hardy perennial to 3 feet; with downy, heart-shaped 3" leaves. Eurasia. Zone 3. Well-known cat attractant due to feline sex-pheromones. Said to repel rats. Good bee plant. Makes a nice tea and the young shoots are used in French cooking. Germinates irregularly in 1 - 4 weeks and up, best in light.
NICANDRA (nee-KAN-dra)
SOLANACEAE. A single species. Grow like tomatoes, likes full sun and ordinary soil, but stands part shade. Space 1 - 3 feet apart. Good in pots. Flowers in about 14 weeks from seed and for 12 weeks more. Aged seed sprouts readily, fresh seed needs cold or GA-3.
—Nicandra Physalodes. (500) NICA-1. Packet: $2.50
25 grams: $14.00, 100 grams: $30.00
Click for photo »
'SHOO-FLY PLANT', 'APPLE OF PERU'. Sky-blue, inch-wide bells all summer, followed by attractive, unusual papery, five-winged pods which are useful in dried arrangements. Vigorous bushy half hardy annual to 2 - 5 feet tall, with light green, wavy-edged leaves. Peru. An old-fashioned garden favorite, grown for ornament and its fly-killing or repelling properties, which many people swear by. Formerly much grown around farm houses for this purpose. Also grown in greenhouses as it attracts and kills white flies. Give GA-3.
—Nicandra Physalodes var. nigra. (500) NICA-1N. Packet: $2.50
Ounce: $12.00
Deep purple-black stems and pods flushed purple. Sky blue inch-wide flowers. Use GA-3 to germinate in a week.
NICOTIANA (ni-KO-she-A-na or NI-ko-tee-A-na)
SOLANACEAE. 'TOBACCO'. Nearly 70 species of herbs to small trees, mostly Western Hemisphere, but 20 in Australia and 1 in SW Africa. Valued for their often showy, mostly fragrant trumpet shaped flowers, and the bold effect of the foliage. Excellent in borders, preferring rich moist soil and full sun. Fragrant types may be flowered in pots for indoor scent. Many species have been smoked, and several are grown for the production of the valuable biodegradable insecticide nicotine. Sow indoors a month or two before last frost or outdoors when the weather has warmed. Surface sow, most germinate in 1 - 3 weeks. Seed long-lived, with a half-life of 5 - 10 years.
—Nicotiana acuminata v. multiflora. (1000) NICO-2. Packet: $2.50
5 grams: $7.50
White trumpets in summer on a graceful annual to 6 feet, with pointed leaves. Chile. Attractive in masses. NOTE: Formerly offered as N. Bigelovii, a case of grower mis-identification.
—Nicotiana alata 'Sensation Mix'. (1000) NICO-3SX. Packet: $2.50
Ounce: $11.00, 1/4 pound: $30.00 BULK OUT OF STOCK - packets are still available
'JASMINE TOBACCO'. Intensely fragrant trumpets in shades of deep red, yellow, white, purple, and soft pink. Flowers are open all day and release their fragrance at dusk. Plant near a window for heavenly fragrance on summer evenings. Tender perennial to 3 feet. Likes sun and well-drained soil. Good cut flowers. Attracts hummingbirds and beneficial insects.
—Nicotiana alata 'Sweet Scented White'. (1000) NICO-3W. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $6.00, 25 grams: $10.00, 100 grams: $28.00
Click for photos »
'JASMINE TOBACCO'. Very sweet scented pure white trumpet-shaped flowers 3 - 4" long and 1 - 2" wide. Tender perennial to 3 - 4 feet, usually grown as an annual. Brazil. Popular and free blooming. "Fall sown seedlings make excellent pot plants in winter... and are very fragrant."—Ricker. This is the true old-fashioned type, tall and intensely fragrant.
—Nicotiana benavidesii. (100) NICO-7. Packet: $7.00
Yellow-green tubular 1 1/2" flowers on a thick-stemmed perennial to 5 feet, with bright green heart-shaped leaves. From 7600 feet in dry forest near the Apurimac. Zone 10. "Young plants develop a distinct pachycaul stem. Should tolerate hot dry conditions well."—Kamm. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
—Nicotiana glauca. (=arborea) (100) NICO-15. Packet: $2.50
Click for photos »
'TREE TOBACCO', 'DON JUAN', 'ISIL-PIVAT' (Cahuilla Indian name). Bright yellow, tubular shaped 1 1/2" flowers in large, pendant clusters. Graceful tree or shrub to 20 feet, with striking glaucous-blue foliage. Argentina. Grown outdoors in the Southwest, or as a stately tub plant in the North. Sometimes grown as an annual in the border for the bold foliage. Valued by Indians for smoking, chewing, drinking, and medicinal uses. Said to contain only trace nicotine, its major alkaloid is anabasine, which is similar in action, but a bit less toxic. Highly toxic to aphids. Hardy to about 15°F. I have had it flower in a 3" pot when 1 foot tall. Attracts hummingbirds and sphinx moths. Fresh seed often dormant, and needs GA-3, but seed a year or two old germinates readily in 1 - 2 weeks.
NEW—Nicotiana Langsdorfii 'Lemon Tree'. (1000) NIC0-20L. Packet $2.50
5 grams: $7.50
Nodding greenish yellow 1 1/2" flowers in large branching sprays. Hardy annual to 3 - 4 feet. Brazil and Chile. Germinates in 2 - 4 weeks.
—Nicotiana otophora. (50) NICO-26. Packet: $4.50
'WILD TOBACCO'. Large wide-mouthed pink flowers on a large-leaved shrubby perennial to 5 - feet tall. Lower elevation eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes. May be one of the parents of Tabacum. Germinates in 2 - 6 weeks.
—Nicotiana rustica 'Kessu'. (250) NICO-29K. Packet: $4.00
Gram: $18.00 BULK OUT OF STOCK - packets are still available
The most northerly strain known of this high-nicotine species, grown in Finland within 400 miles of the Arctic Circle. Germinates in 1 - 3 weeks. For more seeds and plants grown by plant-explorer Ben Kamm, including many Andean rarities, see his website at www.sacredsucculents.com
—Nicotiana rustica 'Rapa Nui'. (500) NICO-29RN. Packet: $2.50
Click for photos »
'AVA-AVA', 'EASTER ISLAND TOBACCO'. Yellow flowers and 15" long leaves, on a plant to 3 - 4 feet. Originally collected on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), where the local indigenous cowboys call it 'ava-ava' and smoke it mixed with milder commercial tobacco or with Can nabis. They say it has always been on the island (not introduced). They say it is very strong-flavored. Curiously, 'ava-ava' is used elsewhere in the South Pacific to refer to the intoxicating drink 'kava'. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
—Nicotiana rustica 'San Juan Pueblo'. (1000) NICO-29SJ. Packet: $2.50
Traditionally grown variety from the San Juan Pueblo. Used ceremonially. Germinates in 1 - 3 weeks.
—Nicotiana sylvestris. (1000) NICO-33. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $15.00, 100 grams: $100.00
Click for photos »
Sweet scented drooping white flowers with long slender tubes flaring to 1 - 2" wide. Vigorous tender perennial to 5 - 8 feet, with large 20" basal leaves, making bold attractive clumps. Argentina. On a warm summer evening a clump will perfume a yard with one of the most delightful scents I've known.
—Nicotiana trigonophylla. (250) NICO-44B. Packet: $3.00
This lot grown from seed collected in Baja Calif.
'DESERT TOBACCO'. Creamy white 1/2 - 1" long trumpets in spikes. Vigorous annual from 8" to 3 feet tall. Desert washes from S. California to Texas. Smoked by the Hopi, Pima, Papago, Maricopa, Cocopa, Mojave, Yuma, and Cahuilla, who believed it one of the first plants created by the god Mukat.
Nicotiana Tabacum Varieties:
'SMOKING TOBACCO'. Robust annual or short-lived perennial to 3 - 6 feet or more, with large leaves and beautiful rosy-red trumpet-shaped 2" flowers. Tropical America. Strikingly beautiful, attracts many hummingbirds, and a valuable organic insecticide. They are lovely, useful plants—you don't have to smoke them to like them—few things make me as happy as being next to a blooming tobacco plant!
LIABILITY DISCLAIMER NOTE: Tobacco is the single most addictive substance known to man. I doubt if anyone is unaware of the negative health consequences of tobacco use. I do not encourage anyone to use tobacco, but I also do not condemn anyone who does use it. I distribute tobacco seeds because it is a beautiful and useful plant, and because I feel that those who do use tobacco will benefit from growing it. I believe that growing your own will provide you with additive-free and pesticide-free tobacco. I do encourage those who already use tobacco to try growing their own as this will help in harm reduction.
Tobacco taxes are extremely high, and are not earmarked to provide health-services to tobacco users as they should be, unfairly exploiting tobacco users. I call on all governments to earmark tobacco tax revenues solely for the medical care of tobacco-related health problems.
HARM REDUCTION: An interesting and overlooked idea, that was originated by health workers seeking harm reduction from tobacco use, is the strategy of producing high-nicotine tobacco, the opposite of commercial low-nicotine cigarettes. Low nicotine cigarettes tend to cause the smoker to smoke more. The theory here is that high-nicotine tobacco will enable the smoker to deliver a dose of nicotine that will satisfy the addiction with just a puff or two, reducing the amount of tar, carbon monoxide, benzene, smoke particulates, and other toxic, carcinogenic, and harmful components of cigarette smoke, in the same way that the nicotine "patch" reduces harm by avoiding damaging the lungs with tobacco smoke. Theoretically, dampened tobacco leaves placed on the skin could also deliver nicotine into the addicted person's system—there are cases where tobacco smugglers have gotten nicotine poisoning by carrying tobacco next to the skin.
Some pharmacologists have stated that research should be done to produce semi-synthetic analogues of the nicotine molecule that produce nicotine-like effects, but with lowered toxicity, as a harm-reduction strategy.
ABOUT NICOTINE:
Believe it or not, nicotine has many beneficial medicinal properties, increasing IQ and physical performance, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-schizophrenia, helps the transfer of information from short-term into long-term memory, etc. I have a friend who takes 100 mg a day sublingually - he's an organic chemist so makes an extract which is used traditionally in Columbia, and is buffered. Apparently pure nicotine is not carcinogenic, and is only mildly habit-forming, not like tobacco which is extremely addictive, partly because of the additives. I used to be very anti-tobacco (I have friends and relatives who died of smoking-induced lung cancer), until I read Tobacco Among the Karuk Indians of California, by Harrington, which really opened my eyes about the plant. Later I read some of Johannes Wilbert's work on tobacco and shamanism - amazing stuff!
Interesting overview of nicotine:
http://www.gwern.net/Nicotine
And here is statistician Ronald Fisher's (a brilliant, yet peculiar fellow with many odd beliefs) 1958 paper proposing (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that it is possible that lung cancer causes smoking:
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/fisher274.pdf
Definitely an interesting read!
"You might like to know that tobacco grows very well outdoors in Alaska, reaching 6 feet tall and flowering even in cold wet summers. I just start the plants early, like tomatoes."—V. Robeson, 11/98.
"Tobacco grows very well here in the high desert. Black Mammoth plants were huge at 7 feet, with 34" leaves. Perique also did well. N. rustica self-sowed. Temperatures of 100°F plus, humidity near 10%, UV index of 10. We are at 4100 feet elevation."—D. Cook, Lone Pine, California, 3/13.
Tobacco packets contain about 1200 to 2200 seed, and they run about 10,000 to 20,000 seeds per gram.
Up until a few years ago, tobacco was an allotment crop in 48 states—you needed Agriculture Department permission to grow more than 1/10 acre. Now you don't need permission, and you can grow as much as you like!
Burley types are planted at 6 - 7000 per acre (about 2 1/2 feet apart), the Havanas at 12,000 per acre (about 2 feet apart). For home use space 2 - 4 feet apart. A large plant can yield up to 5 ounces. Curing isn't difficult, and good results can be obtained at home. Tobacco prohibition is coming, so learn to grow your own additive-free and tax-free supply.
For learning how to grow and cure tobacco for home use, we recommend the two inexpensive pamphlets we sell in our book section—see below for link. Home growers should try a couple of varieties to see what produces well for you and gives a type of tobacco that you like. Just like tomatoes, you need to try a few to find what you like! Also, different curing will affect the type of tobacco you end up with, so this is something to experiment with. Don't give up if you don't get what you like the first try—like cooking, it takes practice to find the right "recipe" that gives a tobacco suited to your personal taste.
Ripe tobacco leaf: Click for photo »
Curing recipe from W.D. Fuller, Louisiana: Take mature, dried brown tobacco leaves and re-moisten so that they are quite soft. Seal in a plastic bag and leave in a closed car in the sun where it gets hot. Check the leaves twice a day—when the bag smells of ammonia when opened, they are done—remove from the bag and re-dry till all the ammonia is gone. When fully dry they can be remoistened to the state you like for smoking. The development of ammonia helps release the nicotine from where it is bound up in the leaf, and this recipe can actually change bad-tasting tobacco into excellent quality material.
Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) is not carried in the seed—growing tobacco will not introduce this virus into your garden. It is carried by many plants, but not tobacco seed. TMV does not kill the plant, but reduces yield, and does not make the tobacco unfit for use.
Varieties susceptible to Black Shank should be grown in rotation with other crops.
There are very few sources for unpatented tobacco seed left, and these are all unpatented varieties.
Two other companies distributing heirloom tobacco seeds:
New Hope Seed Company: http://www.newhopeseed.com/tobacco/index.htm
Victory Seed Company: http://www.victoryseeds.com/tobacco/index.html
Please support small, independent tobacco seed suppliers, and help keep these varieties going.
For more detailed information on tobacco cultivation and curing:
Kentucky and Tennessee Tobacco Production Guide: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id160/id160.pdf
Virginia Cooperative Extension Tobacco Crop Guides: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/crops.html
SEE BOOK SECTION FOR TOBACCO BOOKS.
STANDARD BURLEY VARIETIES:
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Burley KY-17'. (1000) NICO-36K17. Packet: $2.50
A standard Kentucky Burley with high quality, good yield, and multiple disease resistance. Certified Kentucky-grown seed.
Disease resistance levels:
Black Shank Race 0 - Medium resistance.
Black Shank Race 1 - Medium resistance.
Black Root Rot - High resistance.
Fusarium Wilt - Medium-low resistance.
Tobacco Mosaic - High resistance.
Wildfire - High resistance.
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Burley TN-90'. (1000) NICO-36T90. Packet: $2.50
A standard Tennessee Burley with high quality, good yield, and multiple disease resistance. Certified Kentucky-grown seed.
Disease resistance levels:
Black Shank Race 0 - Medium resistance.
Black Shank Race 1 - Medium resistance.
Black Root Rot - High resistance.
Tobacco Mosaic - High resistance.
Wildfire - High resistance.
RARE PERIQUE TOBACCO
This is the rarest commercial tobacco in North America, and one of the most highly-prized.
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Perique'. (1000) NICO-36PQ. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $20.00, 100 grams: $100.00
Click for photos »
'PERIQUE'. The famous and extremely rare Louisiana tobacco. Originally grown by the Indians and fermented and pressed in hollow logs, this is a very potent tobacco. Usually used mixed with milder types. Now grown by only a few families, the leaves are prepared by prolonged pressing and fermenting, into an almost black tobacco which commands high prices. My favorite! Germinates in 2 weeks warm.
DARK TOBACCO VARIETIES:
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'KY 171'. (1000) NICO-36K71. Packet: $2.50
A high-yielding variety giving high quality dark tobacco.
Disease resistance levels:
Black Root Rot - High resistance.
Fusarium Wilt - Medium resistance.
Tobacco Mosaic - High resistance.
Wildfire - High resistance.
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Small Stalk Black Mammoth'. (1000) NICO-36BM. Packet: $2.50
Gives a good weight of fine dark tobacco, and holds itself up well so that the leaves stay cleaner. Certified Kentucky-grown seed. "It is in great demand by some growers because it will produce either a wrapper or a snuff tobacco when allowed to get ripe."—Newton. "We've got leaves 3 1/2 feet long on this! Awesome!"—Bertrand, 8/96.
HAVANA TOBACCO VARIETIES:
These old Cuban varieties have been grown in the U.S. for decades, producing well even in northern states. In days past, a great deal of Havana tobacco was grown in Wisconsin. The Havanas are smaller plants than the burley types, and are highly valued because of the fine flavor—Cuban cigars are renowned throughout the world! The seed is getting scarce.
NOTE TO REGULATORS: The Havana tobacco seed we distribute here was grown in the United States, not illegally imported from Cuba. The starter seed was also grown in the U.S.—as noted above, the Havana varieties were grown and maintained in Wisconsin, by the Northern Wisconsin Cooperative Tobacco Pool, from which we originally obtained our starter seed.
NOTE: When ordering this and paying through PayPal, do not mention the name 'Havana' in your PayPal payment - this will trigger a suspension of our account because they think the seed was grown in Cuba, and our account will be locked until we clear up their confusion. Importation of goods from Cuba is prohibited, and they do not realize that the seed was grown here in the states.
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Havana 142'. (1000) NICO-36H1. Packet: $2.50
Gram: $9.00, 5 grams: $36.00
An excellent Havana tobacco, giving a quick harvest (about 65 days). Good for chew and cigars. Good in the North. Seed originally grown in Wisconsin.
"The Havana tobacco was a big growing success and my friends and I smoke it on ceremonial occasions. They say it has a very fresh and smooth flavor, and as they are quite involved with dependence on other cigarette forms, their avid appreciation of the taste is a compliment; they consider themselves connoisseurs! It is a joy in my garden."—M. E., New York.
—Nicotiana Tabacum 'Havana 608'. (1000) NICO-36H6. Packet: $2.50
Click for photo »
Gram: $6.00, 5 grams: $20.00, 10 grams: $35.00
The best Havana for home use. Fast maturing in 65 days. High yield. Good for cigars and chew. Good in the North.
NIGELLA (ni-JELL-la)
RANUNCULACEAE. Showy, easily grown hardy annuals. White, blue or yellow flowers followed by interesting inflated pods. The leaves are delicate and finely divided. Sow from March onwards outdoors in a sunny place, and they will give much bloom for little care. In warm areas you can sow in fall. Makes good cut flowers and the dried pods are ornamental. Succession sowing extends bloom. Germinates in 1 - 4 weeks.
—Nigella damascena 'Red Pod'. (250) NIG-3RP. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $7.50
Large white flowers followed by red seed pods, good in dried arrangements. Hardy annual to 2 feet, with lacy foliage. Very nice! Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
NEW—Nigella hispanica. (250) NIG-5. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $7.50
'SPANISH FENNELFLOWER'. Blue 2 1/2" flowers with dark centers and reddish stamens. Hardy annual to 1 1/2 - 2 feet, with divided leaves and attractive pods. Spain and N. Africa.
—Nigella sativa. (200) NIG-22. Packet: $2.50
'NUTMEG FLOWER', 'BLACK CUMIN', 'ROMAN CORIANDER'. White or blue 1 1/2" flowers followed by odd inflated pods. Branched annual to about 12", with divided leaves. E. Mediterranean. The aromatic seeds are used as seasoning in the Mediterranean, Middle East and India. Commonly used in curries, on bread and cakes. Called 'Four-Spice' in France, it is described as having a lemon-carrot scent. Also medicinal, and placed among clothes to repel insects. Germinates in 1 - 3 weeks.