You won't find a bigger or better pack of seeds than this one, anywhere on Amazon. I received 143 total varieties of vegetables, greens, herbs/spices, legumes, and the Golden Bantam sweet corn. I can't speak highly enough of this collection. It is very well packed, and very abundant in seeds. I couldn't imagine going through all the trouble of getting so many of all of these seeds, and pure (I hope), to sell, but no matter, it makes you feel quite good to have these at your disposal (or rather, years long storage, and mounds of potential produce in the future!) With a pack like this you expect longevity of seeds and success in germination (as long as you go through the trouble of making the right soil, saturation, light, heat and humidity conditions for germination).I'm keeping my seeds packed into two mason jars (yes, all 143 varieties together can fit into two, quart mason jars), in the back of my fridge. According to their leaflet, room temperature may keep the seeds alive 3-5 years (all assuming you keep them dry and out of sunlight), refrigerated they may sustain 6-10, and in a freezer, apparently they can last 10-20 years. Did not know that!So, what of the extra 8 varieties, you ask? Tomatoes! The pack came with a total of 20 varieties of tomato. Among my most anticipated to try are the Striped Stuffer, Golden Jubilee, Big Rainbow, and Chocolate Stripes. If you're like me, you'll have immediate preferences among the 20 varieties of tomatoes (assuming you get that "gift pack", and you'll wonder why you have so many others... most of them are red.), but I guess it's worth growing all of them, or most, to at least test differences in taste or consistency...It is definitely a veggie-and-melon-heavy collection, with many varieties of certain species, probably an attempt at satisfying differences in taste, and in some cases offering differences in color... They offer many varieties of those plant types which vary in color, or else several varieties of the root crops, and fewer or only one variety of certain other crops or herbs. For 143 varieties total, expect about 49 different species total. So, it's still a good value, also offering a small starter for those who want to have their first base of perennials in the garden. It's really a good way to knock out so many varieties at once so you're not distracted by those heirlooms later, as you've already got them, and can move on. Plus if you don't even want to bother with certain varieties, you can give them to friends or neighbors.I have nothing on germination rates, but I may update the review as I test these seeds out in varying soil and micro-climatic conditions. Assuming the best, I would HIGHLY recommend this as the IDEAL starter for anyone who wants to grow heirloom garden produce.