So where do I buy reliable seeds?

I only start a few plants from seed, usually because I want something very specific. In the last couple of years I've had more than my share of dud seeds--either seeds that refused to sprout or that didn't grow into what was advertised on the seed packet. Last year we had baseball-sized "cherry" tomatoes. This year my "French vanilla" white marigolds turned out to be a motley assortment of orange and yellow marigolds. I had bought them at a hardware store and they were Burpee seeds, which I had always thought of as reliable, but which apparently aren't. My husband speculates that the Chinese are in the counterfeit seed business.

Where does one buy reliable seeds?