I’ve done a lot of composition today.
Yep, a bunch here on this forum.
But also a column for some papers.
So far as I recall, every bit of it
is original content from my personal
vocabulary repertoire.
So, the nurseries could get 'em a copy person to compose original content if they so chose.
I was talking more so about nurseries copy and pasting descriptions. Most trees I have found are just copied and pasted from the Dave Wilson website. In fairness I don’t think most nurseries have actually tasted every one of these fruit trees to make an assumption on a taste profile. Also how are you going to make say a cherry tree sound different than any other cherry tree per se. Some have different cold hardiness or disease hardiness or a history you can write about but many of those cherries seem to stay on the same note. Same with many fruit. Apples change flavor I suppose but many fruit is very similar taste wise. There are exceptions but taste can even change depending on location. Honeycrisp is known to be a good tasting apple in places like Minnesota where is was bred but I have read is not nearly as good tasting some places. Heck I have had cosmic crisp apples from the store and they are not consistent. So like I said writing is easy when talking about disease, cold hardiness, self fertility, history etc. but I do see some things being hard to separate from the crowd particularly if you never tried the fruit before. In fairness to the nurseries they sell hundreds or thousands of fruit so I don’t think they can taste every one.
Lucile is an amazing resource. Ive talked to her several times and nothing but good to say about her nursery.
Well, they literally said the description was ‘from their propagator’ so for what that’s worth…
For some people saying it’s one of the best (or the best) tasting berries they’ve ever eaten, you’d think people would be excited about it enough to make a new description!
The most flagrant at deception are TyTy and its spinoffs. One of them was aaronsbulb who didnt last very long…as they were cheating people left and right.
Here is a great example…trying to sell black raspberries but those are blackberries…except for the stolen internet pictures.
I am convinced that TyTy is run by the same people that made the GirlsGoneWild videos…
Or at least say roughly how many different kinds of berries they’ve tasted, and which they liked and disliked.
Honestly the amount of nursery I have found who have actually tasted or is willing to give tips on what to get is very few. Stark Brothers descriptions seem pretty flat on with taste description so someone tried it. Raintree and One Green World had people who could give descriptions on what to grow and for what zone as well as taste. There are plenty of places like Fast Growing Trees where you call them and if it is not within the description they cannot and will not offer any information though. The nursery that have been willing and able to tell me the taste as well as growth habits/ how it will react to my conditions I have given lots of money to but I question some websites. Ironically it is the most expensive websites that seem to have the least amount of information. Places like Whitman farms, Raintree, One Green World, etc. all seem to have the information and know what they are talking about despite all being affordable on the list but Raintree. Raintree makes videos featuring certain trees and tasting them so I wonder if they have somewhere to grow them on some of these nursery.
One Green World and Raintree have lots of employees, spanning a broad spectrum of knowledgeability about the fruit trees.
Willis is an off-shoot of TyTy, which is why you see the same issues with both. I’d never order from either under any circumstance.
I can’t say how many times folks were excited to get living plants from Willis, just to discover years later that none of the plants were what they claimed to be.
I am not sure that Willis Orchards is actually an offshoot of Ty Ty Plant Nursery. Willis says that they are based in Cartersville (NW Georgia), and Ty Ty is about 230 miles away in central south Georgia.
Willis Orchards For Sale! (houzz.com)
“I am Jason Willis and wanted to address the comments of…”
"I left my unhappy, to say the least, employment at tyty nursery and started my own business in June of 2007. "
He claims he left TyTy, but you still see the same issues with both companies, which isn’t surprising considering his affiliation with them.
I believe there was another thread on Houzz (or perhaps this same one) where he discussed this further, but it appears all other comments have been removed.
This guy got about as mad as ive seen anyone get at TyTy…but they are still going strong despite everything they have done wrong to folks.
THE worst experience that ive had was from caribbeangardenseed. And yes ive ordered from TyTy and Willis and been thru the ringer with them both.
Caribbeangardenseed has the perfect model for ripping people off. They dont answer the phone or emails ever…and on the main page it says that they are experiencing high order volume which may result in shipping delays. It takes about a year to get whatever you order and by that time there is nothing that you can do about it.
They have worse reviews than TyTy and still remain in business… they pay for ad space on social media so they get suckers every day.
Prepper Gardens Nursery is the same… takes about a year to get whatever you order. No phone answering, no email replys ever.
Likely both are TyTy shell companies.
All of these businesses seem to be above the law.
I’m envious! My trees were terribly grafted and the persimmon’s taproot was broken and hollow. My berry plant survived but every tree died. Not worth it for the nut trees either, they should have been grown in liners. Instead I got a twig with a broken tap root and one desiccated feeder root.
Early on I messaged Willis and the response demonstrated that they neither knew, nor cared, that feijoa isn’t really a guava.
That was it for me. Bullet dodged.
I like to post reviews on Dave’s Watchdog. I think I may have posted about 15 over the last 6 years or so (not a lot, I know), only 1 was negative. 
I received Kokuso and Northrup mulberry scions from Cricket Hill Nursery yesterday. They sent me more than I ordered of one variety, I imagine due to the smallish caliper of one of them. I appreciate that very much, as it wasn’t truly necessary. It’s nice to know there are nurseries out there who still go above and beyond.
what mulberry are you grafting to? -40 last winter killed my Northrup to the ground but grew 5ft. from the roots by fall.
I’ve got a wild white mulberry here with multiple trunks that I brought from my old place in southcentral WI. It’s seen -38 (probably lower as that temp was at the house and the tree is at a lower elevation) for a low. Also weeks on end of -20 to -28 a few winters. Too bad it’s a male.
I’ve also got a younger white mulberry (assume it’s a Russian) that was a Kokuso graft from Burnt Ridge. A late frost zapped the grafted portion the year I got it. Buds were already swelling when I received it in late April that year. I knew it was doomed when I planted it. That was the last year I ordered anything from a west coast nursery. That tree has only seen temps around -28ish, so time will tell if it survives.
you ever try illni everbearing at your location? i got 2 Barkslip grafted for me on wild Russians growing on his property. this mild winter might give them the break they need to get well established next summer. ones on a hill the other is lower on the property.