I’ve had good experiences with Fedco trees, Gurney’s, and Stark Bros.
Fedco has sent me some amazing trees, much larger than expected, when I’ve ordered early in the season. However, I recommend skipping their end of season clearance, as I purchased discounted trees once, which were so tiny that they looked more like small bushes than trees. A year later, they remain smaller than many of the bench grafts I made this spring.
Stark Bros has sent me some gorgeous trees (especially a moorpark apricot that I adored until our mower guy backed into it and then a derecho finished it off). My only complaint here is lack of rootstock info, which others have already noted.
Gurneys has also sent me some decent apple trees, about the size I expected.
I’d like to add a few additional positive experiences- all the scions I’ve bench grafted from Derek at Hocking Hills Orchard have taken and he has a great selection. He tends to send extra if they are small and will throw in a free stick if you order at least 5. Additionally, the scion I’ve received from Steven at Skillcult has been quite vigorous and produced great trees. Finally, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA will send you scion from any of their trees if you contact them. They send several sticks for a very reasonable price.
unless it’s dead lol.