North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[PermacultureNo1@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/20/00 10:18:43 AM, mauch1@aol.com writes:

<< [snip]Most local retail nurseries seem to cater to a very low common 
denominator.  And interesting varietal selection is almost nil.  
There is one mail-order/retail nursery an hour away that does carry 
some interesting varieties of apples and peaches, but not things like 
pluots.

Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6 >>

That is an ineresting observation.  I am coming more and more to buy material 
offered from local nurseries and even places such as Home Depot, which indeed 
carries some materials from speciality nurseries a bit distant to reach by 
car.  There are also quite a few interesting plant sales, some frequented by 
rare plant freaks, medicinal herb freaks, etc., where one can pick up 
interesting material.  I'm coming to feel that I am better-off growing 
rootstock and buying scion wood where I can't get locally a variety I seek.  
Of course buying scion wood is not as easy as it sounds, as a lot of growers 
thing they will force me to buy their grown plants if they blow me off on a 
scion wood request.  Strange psychology.  

There are speciality nurseries, and these often have MORE varieties than I 
can find in a typical catalog.  Given the cost of driving somewhere, I doubt 
that I save money over shipment.  But I do see what I am getting, and often 
the price is lower than shipping by mail, even disregarding transport.  
Moreover, I can get the containerized plants when I want them, which for us 
is when the rainy season starts, not whenever someone's spring in some other 
part of the country happens to occur.  We do order from certain mail order 
places too--but more and more I find I get better results from the material 
that I buy locally.

Dh

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