Two years ago Stark canceled 1/2 of my pecan order in the summer long after planting season was over saying they didn’t have the inventory to send me what I’d ordered 8 months previous, and then sent the remainder of my order in late July. When I complained that planting season for a strong full year of growth was long long over, their response could best be translated to: “thoughts and prayers”
I decided then to never order from them again. They were on the leading edge of the nursery decline.
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I’ve bought some pretty nice persimmons from them as well. I bought the small potted size 2-3 foot. Back then they were $28.
I think I have mentioned on this forum multiple times that Stark Bros canceled my 5 in 1 apple tree I ordered in November mid February around 3 weeks before it was set to be sent out and issued me store credit for it. I get store credit if it is my fault or the plants die and you have a warranty but if you cancel I want a refund in cash. The reason I buy from Stark Bros is they have rootstocks or plant varieties exclusive to them. They have a sweet kernel apricot called sweetheart so I bought from them and they and myrabean nursery or however you spell that nurseries name are the only ones who are selling Aztec Fuji to the public, I think Stark Bros also has a exclusive disease resistant fuji apple, stark bros has a Zestar! apple on standard rootstock and they are one of the few if any who do. I could go on with varieties or rootstock only they seem to sell.
Not sure how big mine are. I would say at least a few feet. I think when I bought from them they only had a size 5 pot to buy. They are totally sold out now. Plants have gone up a lot in the past year online. I don’t think you can deny it. In 2020 a cherry tree was around 30 dollars at Raintree but now they sell them for 50. Raintree prices were on the extreme level though. Most of my trees from One Green World were around 30 dollars and I was able to combine 7 or 8 trees on a order for pretty cheap shipping. Bay Laurel said they increased their prices but it was still 27-30 something dollars for most trees. Bay Laurel charged something like 33 dollars to ship up to 3 bare root trees a few states away which is quite hefty. Sometimes if you look you can still get a deal though. Stark Bros was selling their final bare root seckle for something like 18 dollars, I also got 10 bare root purple passion asparagus for 4 or 5 dollars which is about 40 for 50 cents a crown.
I just looked at the PMG prices. They have more than doubled since I bought from them. PMG always puts out 10-15% off coupons which I used on my order. They have several different sizes, but not every tree will have all those available at the same time. Their prices are too high now, but they have great service. I placed the order and it was there like a week later.
The tree I bought is what Stark Bros is selling a persimmon at and shipping was only 15 dollars so I can’t complain too much. You can go back to old forums that date back to the early 2000s or even 2010. Back then 10 dollars was expensive for a bare root plant. Now most people are spending at least 30 dollars so price has tripled even on the lower scales of cost. I do agree there is a issue that in order to get the good varieties of trees you need to get them a year in advance anymore. Cummins Nursery you have to buy a year and a half ahead of time to get a tree, Raintree opens sales in July and while you can buy things later on with sales with Raintree the multi graft trees sale out very quick and I know last year they had a good discount if you bought early in July, One Green World opens doors later in the season at October or November so I suppose if you missed the other guys you can go with them and One Green World has good variety of plants, Bay Laurel is the mid option in the middle of the ordering season, Stark Bros seems to sway back and fourth with sometimes having you wait a half a year from something like spring to late fall to get the plants (I have a Aztec Fuji and 2 sweetheart apricot on order but they are not to ship out until October or November currently), other times they ship it same or next week and sometimes they reschedule it to ship at a earlier date (my Pork persimmon was not set to go out until July or August.)
All this makes me glad I grafted my own trees. I’m trying to decide which to move into the orchard looking at things like disease resistance, vigor, and also unusual desirable traits. I’ve giving them each a score. 
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USDA always comes through. I have had to justify my orders on occasion as a fruit breeder, but the stock is quite generous for most orders.
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Plant Me Green is doing something different, and their shipping cost on large potted plants is very good. I always hesitate because they are in Florida and I just can’t see those plants making it in the north. Please let us know how yours do. They also have very helpful customer service.
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I completely agree, the USDA material is always superior in every way. I had to do some justifying this year for the first time but it was successful and the chat with the new head of the program was very illuminating.
I wonder if I ever had to justify in the future if I would use the excuse that as a start-up business I can’t rely on established business vendors for source material because they’re in such decline they’re mailing out dead sticks, relying on store credit as a backstop to keep the money, and calling it a day.
just bought 20 seeds of Antonovka apple and 10 seeds of red sentinel crab apple for $4.50 shipped. ill plant them in my nursery bed this late fall for growing next spring.
I can’t imagine seeds would grow true from seeds though from apples. It was to my reading that all apple seeds have their own genetic makeup.
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Antonovaka and a few other apples are noted for growing true from seed. @steveb4 are you using these as rootstocks or for fruit? I’m not familiar with red sentinel, is it noted for growing true from seed or as a good rootstock?
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for rootstock. plan to graft.
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Antanovka is more of a land race than anything. They do not come “true” from seed as in no variation, but they may be similar if both parents were Antonovka types. If they were open pollinated with other varieties around the seedlings could be all over the place in terms of traits.
The USDA has multiple Antanovka accessions and they do vary in size/vigor.
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red sentinel crab just grows a smaller tree much like a semi dwarf. its just what ebay had for seed so i decided to try it. have a 6ft. sargents crab i got as a freebie from Arbor day i currently have 8 apple cultivars on it. it has similar form as red sentinel so i was hoping they grow similar as they both came from Japan. the sargents has all horizonal limbs and i didnt have t prune it that way. i grafted Skillcuts pink parfait, cherry crush and black strawberry this spring. all took, curious how they do here. now the whole tree is converted to other cultivars. also have burgundy, williams pride, frostbite, sweet 16 and liberty on there. now to let it get strong and hopefully fruit next season.
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That is one of my arguments. As a repository of record the plants in the GRIN system should have the original genetics of the variety named. At least the chance is better than what may be floating around in the nursery trade. This is where I like to start if trying any crossbreeding, or even to be assured I have some true to name stock if I send out scionwood.
Even from GRIN there is a chance you might get some virus infected material. But if there is a potential problem they will warn buyers if it has been observed. We should all make sure this national collection always continues to get the funding they need to keep running.
Still feel bad about the infuriating experiences you’ve had buying plants this season. i can only hope it isn’t the future we’ll have to deal with.
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Honestly this year was good with nursery overall for me. Last year 3/5 of my trees died that I bought. This year 4 or 5 had issues but 2-3 were from Stark Bros and one nursery only. That is a much better success rate than last year.
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Yeah, even just the name “Fast Growing Trees” does not inspire confidence. Give me quality trees, unique trees, or long lasting trees. Preferably some combination of those…
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That name always said to me: I’m not the intended purchaser. Enthusiasts like us are looking for exactly what you said, quality and diversity. I think they’re trying to conquer the market of individuals who want to keep up with the Jones, have the money to do it, and want to put in the least amount of effort possible.
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