Seeds vs. Seedlings
Seeds are living embryos. Given the right conditions, they will germinate and grow into healthy, productive plants. Given the wrong conditions, they will rot or shrivel up without becoming anything at all. Consequently, while there are advantages to using seeds instead of seedlings, they represent a somewhat riskier approach to putting plants into the landscape.
Seedlings are the easiest and most reliable method for putting plants into the ground. They have already survived the vagaries of germination, and initial care during the tender development period. Seeds offer a number of advantages if you are willing to wait a little longer for the final product. You can buy a significant larger number of varieties of each plant in seed form than you will find in any garden center. Seedlings are usually most available during eight or ten weeks of spring, while seed can be started in your landscape almost any time during the growing period. Of course, seeds will give you many more plants for your money than you can get from commercial seedlings. Finally, for some folks, there is special pleasure from the process of planting that little seed in the ground and watching it grow into a beautiful flower or a tasty vegetable.