Morse nursery?
- Thread starter chummer
- Start date
Back in 2008 I also stumbled onto Morse Nursery, and found myself in "Fantasy Land". All of the trees had been "Discovered", so they had names like "Purple Haze". I was "Enchanted" and placed an order that was between $500-$600. With no idea and not a clue I went blindly down the rabbit hole.
I planted a lot of trees that year, with my Morse Nursery order being the last to arrive, and I'd saved prime locations for my "Magic trees". When they arrived they were just potted sprouts that were too young to survive outside a nursery. The order was mostly apples, but I also ordered hybrid oaks, one of which was said to be a Chinkapin Oak/Dwarf Chinkapin Oak hybrid. That's the one tree that did the best, but it turned out to be a Chinese Chestnut, and no such Chinkapin hybrid existed in any nursery! One of the other miracle oaks that I planted in 2008 is two feet tall today.
The apples.
Most of the apples died because they were just sprouts. I think I calculated that they were $2.00 a leaf! It's been six years and I still haven't seen my first apple from the few survivors because they're Standard trees and take 10-12 years to produce fruit, and since Morse Nursery sells trees from seed, there's no telling what these mongrel trees will turn into. Assuming one survives, what will be the drop time for the apples it produces? Are the trees disease resistant? Will they grow in your location? What are the size and quality of the apples? With all these unknowns I blew $500-$600 on potted sprouts...... I must have been on "Purple Haze" when I bought them.
That said, the guys here can speak volumes on apples and Stuart Smith is my go too guy. I recommend you buy from a reputable nursery where there's no mystery involved and Stu and others will be more than happy to assist.
I planted a lot of trees that year, with my Morse Nursery order being the last to arrive, and I'd saved prime locations for my "Magic trees". When they arrived they were just potted sprouts that were too young to survive outside a nursery. The order was mostly apples, but I also ordered hybrid oaks, one of which was said to be a Chinkapin Oak/Dwarf Chinkapin Oak hybrid. That's the one tree that did the best, but it turned out to be a Chinese Chestnut, and no such Chinkapin hybrid existed in any nursery! One of the other miracle oaks that I planted in 2008 is two feet tall today.
The apples.
Most of the apples died because they were just sprouts. I think I calculated that they were $2.00 a leaf! It's been six years and I still haven't seen my first apple from the few survivors because they're Standard trees and take 10-12 years to produce fruit, and since Morse Nursery sells trees from seed, there's no telling what these mongrel trees will turn into. Assuming one survives, what will be the drop time for the apples it produces? Are the trees disease resistant? Will they grow in your location? What are the size and quality of the apples? With all these unknowns I blew $500-$600 on potted sprouts...... I must have been on "Purple Haze" when I bought them.
That said, the guys here can speak volumes on apples and Stuart Smith is my go too guy. I recommend you buy from a reputable nursery where there's no mystery involved and Stu and others will be more than happy to assist.
chummer
5 year old buck +
Wow you guys just saved me a bundle. Their site definitely makes it sound like they are known varieties through their painstaking selection process. I was pretty sure DCOs were not working in the north but their zone 3 claim got my hopes up. I should have known when I did not see them on Ed's nursery list. Just looking for a cheaper way to add a lot of crabs that will produce or more importantly survive my winters. Thanks for the feedback.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I will second these comments. Could not believe what I saw when my shipment of Magic Beans arrived.
Plastic trays that you would see Geraniums at Walmart in. 1.5" x 1.5" x 2" cubes that were all root bound and the tallest "tree" was 5" and most were 2-3".
I had an email from Morse where they told me seedlings were 12-18". They denied they said that and I mis-interpreted their comments. Not one of the sprouts ever survived and many of these were there aggressive growth screening ... Leaping Hybrid Poplar, Magic Screen Alder.
Like Brush said, they couldn't answer basic questions and that should have been a huge red flag. I went ahead and bit the shinny flashy thing and wasted $600.
Go spend $600 on a hooker ... at least they follow through on a "happy ending" promise ...
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
You must have had some compromising pictures of Charlie ...
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
If it sounds to good to be true than it most likely is. If you want a true hybrid white oak order the concordia oak from MDC. They dont list them in their tree order form but you can call the nursery an get them. Their price cant be beat. I also like wildlife group for chestnuts an chinkapins.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I planted some trees from Morse this past spring. They were grafted trees - Chestnut, Whitney, Hyslop, Nova Scotia crabs. They were about 3' - 4' tall when they arrived. They seem to have taken " hold " and grown, but now I'm wondering what I actually have. They were supposed to be on B - 118 roots. I guess time will tell. No more orders from me. I'm much happier w/ Cummins, ACN, Boyer's, and SLN.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
My hybrid oaks form Charlie have been in the ground for about 10 years and 2 of them are knee high. The rest are dead.
Charlie did some custom grafting for me and for those that did not take, he sent me some antanovka rootstock. Those rootstock have strted to bear and look like some sort of dolgo.
I planted Morse bunches red and morse bunches yellow crabs. They vary considerably in apple size and most are smaller than he advertises. About 1/3 were not witner hardy. But they do hold apples late in the season and I am OK with those that have survived. They are more of a bush type crab, but I think I have some pictures of apples on them into Feb. or March on the 'puter at home.
Charlie did some custom grafting for me and for those that did not take, he sent me some antanovka rootstock. Those rootstock have strted to bear and look like some sort of dolgo.
I planted Morse bunches red and morse bunches yellow crabs. They vary considerably in apple size and most are smaller than he advertises. About 1/3 were not witner hardy. But they do hold apples late in the season and I am OK with those that have survived. They are more of a bush type crab, but I think I have some pictures of apples on them into Feb. or March on the 'puter at home.
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
I finally got my 7 year old Morse trees to bear fruit. I still am not sure what my trees are in variety but am slowly finding them out as they finally bear fruit. Chummed don't go witht these guys. Go to cummins or someone else
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
To minimize the pain, I am taking a longer term approach. I ordered 1 tree each of 15 varieties plus 30-40 rootstock. I will plant the rootstock to fill out the orchard next spring. In the coming years, I'll decide what to graft onto those rootstocks and either use scions from my trees or trade/buy scions. It'd be nice to plant once and be done but I do not want to spend that much cash all at once. Even so, 15 apple trees plus some pears and cherries, cages, and other stuff is expensive enough that I'd prefer my wife not know the exact amount
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
Chummer
You can get much better prices than $25 and a good business guy would know how to deal with this bad business process
You can get much better prices than $25 and a good business guy would know how to deal with this bad business process
chummer
5 year old buck +
I show my wife all the trees and shrubs from cold stream and MDC that cost less than $1. By the time the cummins order shows up she has lost interest.
chummer
5 year old buck +
I tried negotiating with cummins they would have none of it. I am happy with their trees so I stay loyal over a couple dollars a tree. They are also located close to me so I like supporting a local business. Now if I found a $5-$10 comparable tree my loyalty would be tested.
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
I was very happy with my fruit tree order last ur from Burnt Ridge. They are $15/tree. You should see how well my Liberty, gold rush, Arkansas black, and enterprise on m111 have grown!
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
Chum er I meant by ordering more to get to the next price break. If I were to order more I would go in with you. I ended up buying 10 more trees last year to get to the next price break. This year I may not buy any trees and only graft again. Does anyone know what Cummins has for rootstocks this year. Look like only 2014 list is on their website for rootstocks
chummer
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the tip. I was never close enough to the price break to use it before but this year I am already at 16 trees so basically I get 4 more trees for free.
greyphase
5 year old buck +
Paul
I emailed Tino at Cummins this summer to see if they were going to have any of the G969 rootstock that I had read about. He said yes they would be selling some so I ordered 25 for next spring. Suppose to be between M7 & M106 in size and very resistant to fire blight. Thought I'd give them a try.
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
I ordered some g890
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
Thanks guys but did you see it on their website or did you have to call them?
