Contender Peach Tree Availability

Does anyone know what is going on nationwide with the lack of inventory for Contender peach trees for 2017? Seems like a severe shortage of bareroot stock for this variety over the past couple of seasons and into next year. I was going to plant about 60 next spring but I don’t know if I can find any! Anyone know any reputable nurseries selling them…and for under $30?_

Stark’s has Contender for sale now if you are ok with not knowing the rootstock

Vaughn Nursery shows they have it. The 3 to 4 foot trees are around $9 plus shipping. They are on Guardian Rootstock.

Raintree shows that they have it. So does bentnursery.com, but I know nothing about them at all, just found them in a search. I seem to remember that I couldn’t find one anywhere online last year in late winter. I got lucky and found one at a big box store (Family Farm & Home) in the spring and got one peach from it this year, very good. Jung’s has them listed out of season right now but will probably have them available this winter. I ordered a Toka plum from Jungs last spring kinda late and it was in good shape, about 1/2" caliper. At the time everywhere else was sold out of Toka, but they had it listed as available. The day after I ordered it, it was sold out. I must have got the last one, and they must keep their inventory really well up to date.

I planted one this spring that I ordered from Burnt Ridge. It was a small tree at a good price, and has grown vigorously. I would recommend buying from them.

I think Burnt Ridge is another site that just hasn’t updated yet for the Fall. They’re only showing 4 peach varieties available, but they usually have many more than that. Also, Grandpa’s Orchard won’t update their site until after Thanksgiving, and more than likely they will have Contenders. Even though I think many sites will have them available when they all start updating their inventories in the Fall, I would order them as early as possible. Again, I believe I checked all these sites and more last Feb/March, and couldn’t find one anywhere.

I just checked Burnt Ridge again. They have a notice that reads “The website will be fully updated in November with inventory for the 2017 season.”

I currently have 31 left that arent spoken for on Lovell. You can PM if you are interested.

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A belated thank-you to all of you for the advice, ideas and names of nurseries!

I’m going to wait and see if my hardware store has them in the spring. Last year they had about a dozen at the one store i go to and they all sold in like a week…

The last Contender I bought was from Schlabach’s in New York. Planted it spring 2015 and it bore 8 nice peaches this year. Very happy with the tree and their prices.
You will have to call David (no e-mail) to find out if he has them for 2017 and place the order. Mornings are best to reach him or another family member by phone.
He can tell you if available and on what rootstock but they will not take orders over the phone nor credit cards. Strictly orders by mail and with a check. They are Amish and do business this way only. Phone # 585-798-6198.

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I ended up going with Raintree for my Contender peach trees. They had the 65 trees that I needed and even though they were priced a bit higher than I would have liked, I was offered a discount due to the number of trees that I was buying which helped defray the shipping costs. Now I’m searching for nurseries carrying Red Haven…hopefully a bit closer than Washington state.

Cummins has 98 Red Havens on their site. Looks like 50 or more are 22.75 each for biggest grade. Located in New York state. Fedco has Red Havens in their catalog for $29.25. I think they are located in Maine.

Has anyone dealt with Cummins? I’ve left 2 voicemails over he past couple of weeks and no one has gotten back to me. Doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence. 2 strikes…I’ll try e-mail now.

I sent an email message a couple weeks ago that was not returned. However, there have been other times that they have been very prompt in reply. It is a small family business, I am willing to accept some of the quirks.

That’s surprising. In my experience, they have provided superior service. Any mistakes I’ve called them on they have promptly remedied. Be persistent and I bet they will eventually get back to you in a satisfactory manner.

I’ve sent them an email recently and it was two weeks until I got a reply. When I replied to that email, I didn’t get a response. Maybe they’re extra busy this time of the year?

But, I did order 13 (11 apple, 2 peach) trees from them last spring and I was very satisfied with what we got. The apple trees seem to be doing well, and have put on decent growth the 6 months they been in the ground.

The peach trees (Coralstar and Redhaven) haven’t done as well as I’ve hoped, but I believe it’s lack of fertilizing and a cool wet spring more than the quality of the trees. Next year I’ll be more diligent about providing ferts for all our fruit trees.