Stark Bro's fruit tree sale

[MA VT Flatlander]

http://www.starkbros.com/tags/end-of-season-fruit-tree-sale

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have seen reports from people buying trees in the last couple weeks with this sale some trees are really rough and have broken dormancy prior to shipping, others are ok. I got some trees from Stark Bros earlier this spring cant complain, but at this point I myself would be a little hesitant. I here they do have good customer service in terms of warranty replacement.

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Does not say what rootstock trees are on.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Does not say what rootstock trees are on.

And they wont tell you or dont know if you ask. Commercial accounts can get that info from what I have been told.

 

[CrazyEd]

And they wont tell you or dont know if you ask. Commercial accounts can get that info from what I have been told.

Sounds familiar. I think I just read about this same type of issue in another thread where the nursery doesnt care about the little guy.

 

[sandbur]

I thought there hardiness ratings were pretty optimistic to me.

 

[sandbur]

^^is there a nursery out there that doesn't appear optimistic on their zone ratings :eek:?

Even when I look at SLN's ratings I hve to raise an eyebrow. They had a number of varieties they'd say were good to -50....I find that rather hard to believe. The pear that I grafted from GRIN (Southworth) this year came from a tree that supposedly survived -45 at least a few times with "no damage". I suppose going by temperature alone many of these nursery zone ratings may be accurate. What they don't (and really can't) take into account are all the other environmental conditions that combine with the temperature. Soil type, average annual precip, typical snow cover (and those years when things aren't typical), unrelenting, desiccating wind, average onset of when below zero temperatures may occur, etc. etc. etc.

I suppose that if a tree grows in the southern edge of zone 4, it can be rated as zone 4 hardy. For those of us who live in the northern edge of zone 4 or maybe even still in zone 3, these ratings are very mis leading. Add summer drought and things are very different.

I am very impressed with the BOB hybrid oaks from Charlie. They have been in the ground ten plus years and the few that survived have again died back to snow line for about the 5th time. Sarcasm intended.

Are we better off ordering trees form someone who deals with Baileys and is more of a regional supplier?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I too, tried to get rootstock info from Stark and I couldn't get any. I didn't order from them for that reason. No beef with Stark - I just like to know what root I'm dealing with. Stu's points are valid concerning all the other factors beside temperature. Many conditions govern any plant's viability in a given locale.

I've ordered from northern nurseries just because of temp. and soil similarities, and climate in general. So far it seems to have worked for us at my camp. I've not had a problem with the stock from SLN, ACN, or Cummins. I checked into using those nurseries because of info I read on the old forum and this one, as well as another forum. All 3 have done well by me. I'm not affiliated with any of them. I'm sure there are other good nurseries around the country. I guess if you find a few that satisfy your needs - stay with them.

 

[chickenlittle]

For all the reasons stated, hardiness zones solely on expected minimum temps and growers, marketers, and consumers interpretations on zone hardiness for a given tree should just be taken as a rough guideline of potential suitability for your location. Mentally add a note similar to all those mutual fund ads: "Past performance does not predict future results". Plants are complicated and over-simplifying it does not really help you. Hedge your bets and diversify.

As for buying from northern sources, well that depends on what you are buying. With cloned rootstocks and grafted trees, it does not matter. For seedlings, find out the seed provenance before you order if you feel it is important.