Stark Bro's Sale - (In case you wondered...)

I received shipment today. The tree looks in good condition. However, I ordered Springs Satin plumcot, and they send me big golden delicious apple instead

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Close enough… Jk… My twocot died…planted last yeat… Leafed out and died… Stupid apricots

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Agreed!

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I called Stark recently. I’m just going to write down everything I learned.

Aprioct dwarf: “red leaf peach seedling” so not citation but a seedling.

nectarine/peach dwarf: “peach red leaf seedling”

plum dwarf: mariana or peach red leaf seedling

plumcot will be on either mariana or red leaf peach seedling for certain

apple dwarf either M26 or M9

Cherry semi-dwarf Krymsik 7
Cherrry standard: mazzard of mahaleb

And by the way my nectarine/peach have suckering that has absolutely no red color so that sort of proves it’s a seedling. And, they look like hybrid stone fruit seedlings. Here’s a picture around my Saturn peach.

Stark Bros. Redleaf Seedling Peach Rootstock:

Stark Bros. Redleaf Seedling Peach Rootstock:

There’s has to be peach in this more plum looking rootstock because borers attack the living you know what out of it. That’s why I believe it’s a hybrid stonefruit in addition to @BobVance replying to a message with me wondering how those leaves could be peach. His response being, ‘it’s likely a hybrid stonefruit.’

Dax

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Thanks a lot Dax, that’s helpful.

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That explains why my rootstock suckers had red leaves, but yours don’t. There is genetic variation in the seedlings…

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Mericrest., starks

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I also ordered the Spring Satin… hard to resist! The reviews make it sound pretty amazing. We shall see!
For all you playing at home, many of their apple prices just dropped to 9.99 (some less). This includes
a gala, a yellow delicious, a red delicious, Mutsu, Ruby Mac, Snappy Mac, Blushing Golden, Little Jewel (I think it was formerly Kinder Crisp), Starkrimson Gala, Red Rome Beauty, and Winesap. Freedom is just $12.99 as well. I might have to open a cider mill with this kind of temptation!

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You guys are so mean! I’m trying to save my pennies to get those Romance cherries y’all rave about and now you wave this SALE in my face! Grrr.

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I’ve bought everything I have from Starks except for one Fig, One apple. That amounts to 26 trees 12 elderberry and 16 blackberry plants. I’ve been very satisfied so far. I was a bit perplexed though and thought maybe one of you may have an answer. I went on the website to see if they had anymore Hybrid willows I am making a windbreak of sorts with. The were out of stock. But that wasn’t a problem. Strangely it said They would not ship to my zone anymore this season? I am in Zone 8b. I believe they stated weather conditions as the reason…Does anyone know why? Seems starnge but it may be perfectly normal…

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I think they won’t ship bare root trees or plants to your zone because maybe they feel they won’t survive transplanting in your location at this time of year.

Or, maybe they can’t keep the trees dormant at this time of year, and don’t want to ship them if they aren’t dormant.

In your area, tho, they might ship bare root trees to you in the fall, because they would have a better chance of surviving the winter as opposed to more northern, colder zones.

Just my opinion, I could be all wrong, tho.

Just wondering but how do your trees look now? Are they all leafed out yet? What about your berry plants-are they sending up any new growth?

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Everything is well leafed out. The Elderberry is going gangbusters in my opinion but this is a first for me so I’m not that sure. My Blackberries are getting waist high and I have started to tie the canes to trellis. All my Fig, Apple, Peach, Pear, Cherry, Pecan, Almond, Hazelnut, And Robinson Crabapple are loaded with leaf. Only Figs on my one Fig I bought here in Florida that was much more mature than the Stark trees. I just put two Mulberry trees in the ground 3-4 weeks ago and they both have what appears to be berries that are white like a flower but shaped just like the berry. They are IEB mulberry that once it started raining have easily doubled in size and have tons of leaf now. And your response why they won’t ship now that I think about it makes perfect sense to me. Time for some real heat here for several months…

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Sounds good, looks like you’re on your way. Were your plants/trees transplanted earlier in the spring, maybe Feb or March? It sounds like those blackberries are really taking to their new home.

I planted five raspberries a few days ago, and hope they do just as well as your BB’s. They had awesome long roots, so I’m expecting them to flourish. They were from Indiana Berry.

I’ve only bought two trees from Stark’s, both of them this year. They were both standard Supreme sized, a Blushingstar white peach, and a Starking Delicious pear, aka Maxine. They have leafed out after planting in early April. They look good, but the pear and peach I got from Adams County Nursery (Harrow Sweet and Contender) are doing even better.

They have some strawberry plugs for sale for $6.99 that I’m considering, since my 50 strawbs I got from Nourse Nursery still haven’t sprouted after two weeks in the ground.

I’ve noticed that both Nourse and Indiana Berry have stopped shipping any of their berry and other plants, because they wouldn’t expect them to do well if shipped now to warmer climes.

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Most everything I planted in April, a few in March and even a few in May. … I also have a Starking delicious pear. It appears to be good and healthy. Although my Bartlett is doing even better…

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Good to hear, Jeff. I’m not a big pear fan, my wife likes them more. The reason we got a SKD, or also known as a Maxine, is that we tried some at a orchard about two hours from here last year and really liked them. It wasn’t very gritty and had a nice flavor, and good texture. We ended up bringing home like 20lb or so of them, and canned them. I think we got 7qt canned. They look great in the jars, nice and white. We opened a jar recently and they were still very tasty.

The tree we got from Stark’s is on a pear seedling rootstock. From what folks on here have mentioned, those types of trees take a good while to start fruiting, maybe 7 years! So, that will probably be our last tree to fruit out of all of them. Hopefully some of our semi-dwarf apples will produce a few fruit next year, it will be their third year in the ground. We have an apple and pear that we got from Lowe’s last year, and the apple is about 8ft tall, and the pear about 7ft. So we might get something from them next year.

Plus, our raspberry and strawberry plants ought to produce something. Hopefully, maybe might even get some fruit from our everbearing rasps this fall, if they grow enough this year.

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I noticed that today on Stark’s site that this is the last day to buy bare root plants from them. So if you’re interested, you best make your move!

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Very Nice. I wish mine were 7 or 8 feet tall. Patience is obviously a virtue when growing fruit and nuts. I will be living full-time where my mini-orchard is in about 4 years so I started planting when I did in hopes some of them would be bearing fruit by then. I seriously doubt the Pecan, Hazelnut or Almond will be but seems maybe the Peach, Pear, Apple and Cherry may be. I am getting Figs now and Elderberries and expect the Blackberries and Mulberries to give me fruit next year. I spend every weekend there now and am prepping everything to keep up with when things do bear. I’m an impatient sort and am really looking forward to it all. I am buying a Dehydrator, and am looking to freeze as well. I watched my Grandma can for my whole childhood and am looking forward to re acquainting myself with that to. What a great adventure to me being 58 this year. I’m really loving it…

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Stark Brothers told me they no longer ship to my area on Monday June 19th, FYI for Eastern Seaboard folks who may eye the end of the season sale next year. Jeff, I don’t know what kind of almonds you have, but I put in a Halls Hearty Almond about 5 years ago and it has been producing for at least 3 years. They (the Halls) are related to peaches and my peach trees have proven to be pretty precocious as well. Good luck with all your newish plants! It sounds like a grand adventure!

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Stark calls them All in one Almond. I’m sure it has a more formal name but I don’t know it. They are growing very nicely and have probably doubled in size this year. Sure would be nice if they produce sooner. I love my nut crop. Awesome snack IMO…

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bought a Montmorency Cherry for 9.99 on sale plus $8 shipping last week, planted it and temp. is around 75-84 in the next two weeks, hope it’s not to late to plant. I should have put it in the pot., too late now… will see