DEM wrote:
soft polite snip

As I got more into fruit trees, I discovered the best and most
reliable trees were orderable on the internet as young whips. These
trees grow rapidly and catch up in a year or two to the ones you see
sold in local nurseries and big box stores. There are several good
suppliers, like Raintree Nursery and Tree's of Antiquity out there.

I've bought from Raintree Nursery and their fruit trees have grown
have grown 2-3 feet this summer. The nursery is in my state so I knew
they would grow well here. That, I think, makes a huge difference in
how well fruit trees grow. They're semi-dwarf apple and cherry. I had
blossoms on them this year but they didn't develop. Next year? Maybe
one will!

I have a few of their trees and they do very well here in my part
of the Midwest(zone 5, Chicago area)

Make sure you have the proper pollinators for the apple and cherry.
I don't think buying locally in your case has given much of an
advantage. California also has varying climate zones, so I think
the soil they were grown in would be a bigger factor.

Anyone interested in finding a good nursery should check references
from Nafex (North American Fruit Explorers) or Midfex (Midwest
Fruit Explorer, www.midfex.org) where you find recommended vendors.

Sherwin

Donna
in WA

The advantage of ordering from them is they carry many uncommon
varieties not found locally. They grow their own trees, with no
middle men involved. You can be almost certain that the better ones
of these nurseries are accurate on the rootstock (determines final
size of the tree). If you were expecting a tree to grow to 10 or so
feet, you won't be surprised when it grows many feet higher. I grow
mostly semi-dwarfs on rootstock like Bud 9 that produces apple trees
about 12 feet high. If I had to do it over again, I would have bought
the very small trees on M27 that grow about 6 feet tall. You don't
get as much fruit on a dwarf, but maintenance is much easier, and the
trees yield fruit sooner than a full size tree. There are some
nurseries that I avoid simply because they do not specify their
rootstock, just calling it a dwarf of semi-dwarf. Starks and
Millers are two of these that come to mind. They plant their own
stock, but on an assembly line basis, so they cannot track each tree.

If you want to grow some unusual and very tasty fruit that you can't
find in your supermarket, look at these heritage fruits. Visit a
fruit fair in your area where you can taste these unusual fruits
and be sure to pick one that is compatible with your climate zone.


Sherwin