I was hoping for Carman and Clayton peaches this year.

I wanted Reines des Reinette apple. Bought two apples though. Excellent. Cannot wait to get them next spring.

Shui Mi Tao trees are $50 each, wow! MrsG, it looks like we got in under the wire last year; this year they are putting a premium price on them.

Scott

Oh Mrs G, Cummins and Big Horse Creek Farm often have RdR. It also goes by King of the Pippins. Big Horse Creek Farm will be putting up their annual list of fall available trees soon.

Scott

Thanks Scott, bought the Reine de Ananas and the Arborose apples from the Gnomes! This will make 9 apple trees including the Calvilles arriving in the spring. I wished pears didn't take so long to fruit or I would by the bartlett too.

Anything especially good and rare?

My favorite is the Moniqui white apricot, its excellent tasting, much tastier than Sugar Pearls, and is more productive for me than all the other white apricots. Early and Late Crawford peaches are also hard to find elsewhere and are of very highest quality. They are much better than the more popular Baby Crawford. Pallas and Rio Oso Gem are also excellent quality peaches and they may be the only people selling Pallas. Oh, the plumcot called Hesse I have under the name Weinberger, it has been doing well for me and has a very unusual appearance.

For me I see nothing new I will order, the Mayflower peach looks interesting but it looks more of historical interest.

Scott

Scott, no Arborose apple for you or do you already have one? That is an apple I would call new/rare, Mrs. G Can't wait till it arrives!

I haven't had great luck with California apples so I wasn't looking at the apples. That one does sound interesting though.

Scott

Scott-

Any reviews of "Hesse" plumcot? Looks interesting.

I reviewed Hesse/Weinberger in my apricot review. It only fruited one year but its a high quality apricot and it grew well in my climate, something most California cots don't do. The flesh is strikingly orange against the purple skin, a real beauty. Its on the tart side for an apricot, something it gets from the plum side I assume; I liked the balance.

Scott

It's nice to see the enthusiasm here, but isn't Arboreum cashing in on all the hype. A small order can be twice the price of what it was just two years ago. And as far as I can tell, there's no guarantee that Arboreum is actually growing these trees - when they run out of their stock, when they can(not for the very rare ones of course), I would guess they may sell other nurseries' trees under their name.

Creekweb,

What makes you say " I would guess they may sell other nurseries' trees under their name."?

I think they are cashing in on a good, well grown product. I think you need to read a bit about the backgrounds of the owners. Mrs. G

I'm sure they are not selling others' trees. They show the quantity they have on their website in fact. And things often sell out. I agree the prices on some things are high, but there is no other source for nearly everything they sell. I certainly don't buy anything from them that I could buy elsewhere, its not worth the $$. In fact most of the things they sell which I have I grafted from scionwood, MUCH cheaper!

Scott

I agree Scott.

Arboreum has unusual varieties and good quality stock. I've ordered from them a few times and may again sometime in the future.

Just now I was going to order an Imperial Epineuse plum. I saw that it was expensive at $32. I figured with shipping it would be close to 50 bucks.

I am very rarely willing to spend that much for a tree, but I didn't see any other nursery is selling it this year, so I decided to bite the bullet.

Anyway I went to check out on their Website and the shipping for one tree was going to be $56. The total bill for one tree was going to be 88 bucks!

Didn't complete the order - way too much money.

Arboreum is kinda "out there" on their tree prices.

The trees from Adams I ordered this summer were $13/tree including royalties.

I ordered 5 trees today from Fruit Tree Farm (i.e. Cumberland Valley Nursery). The price was $67.50 including shipping ($13.50/tree).

Like I said, I do appreciate Arboreum's unusual offerings, but there was some major sticker shock when I went to check out.

Looks like I waited too long on Hesse/Weinberger. All gone!

Scott-

That sounds very nice. One problem I have with apricots is that they are too sweet.

I'm not so much judging Arboreum for their steep price increase, just calling them on it. The hype is all about who the owners are as well as their flowery, over the top, California chic marketing of the individual varieties. They do a good job relating to just the market that would pay a premium price for a bare root tree. Now that said, I believe the initial outlay for a tree, even at these inflated prices, in a small operation like a home orchard will end up being a small part of the total cost of raising the tree and shouldn't be so determinant with regard to its purchase, especially for a rare, sought after variety.

My guess about their selling other's trees is just that, a guess. I bring it up mostly as a suggestion to those contemplating buying that $100 bare root tree with visions of little gnomes nurturing the tree along to ask the owners whether Arboreum actually grows all the trees they sell. There are a number of their offerings which can be purchased elsewhere, and so these trees could be made available to Arboreum to sell from their site. It occurs to me that the same business sense that would jack up prices as they have might also see the profit to be gained in selling others' trees. I remember some time ago they would sell out just about everything within a couple of days of posting their varieties. The trees and roots were quite substantial at that time. My last purchase was two years ago. The quality of the stock was much less impressive, and I suspected at the time that they may have been farmed out. Also, they didn't sell out right away as they had previously, suggesting a larger supply. Of course this could just be a quality control issue and increased plantings, but if I were to consider buying more trees from them, I would inquire to clarify the issue.

This post was edited by creekweb on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 12:04

Creekweb, complaining really won't help a thing. I think you need to shop elsewhere. We can all read and make decisions. Mrs. G

MrsG,

I agree, he should shop elsewhere. I bought a few trees from Bay Laurel and I do know they were grown elsewhere. Namely Dave Wilson Nurseries. Which is a wholesale nursery. Do I care? No not at all. Where the trees were grown is a non-issue. I have seen all nurseries have increased prices. Hey the dollar isn't worth anything. And 100 bucks is a lot, but so is 25 years of fruit. Seems like an excellent deal to me.

Nothing is perfect Bay Laurel has very decent prices, and a huge selection. I don't like the fact they trim roots rather severely. But the trees grew as well as the ones with no trimmed roots, so it appears it made no difference at all.
I also didn't like that the trees were rather large as I was looking for small trees.
This year I'm still not sure what I will buy?
Well a couple I have decided on.
I will be buying a Weeping Santa Rosa as it fits my needs of having ornamental value and fitting well into an edible landscape. Also a couple different contorted filberts (red dragon, walking stick) which also fit that bill. And a Chicago Hardy fig.
I also managed to snag an Old Mixon Free peach tree before they sold out. One of the oldest peach cultivars around, if not THE oldest (and a reason for that!) Bought and paid for. Although I have no idea where to put it? I'm really out of room.

Someone on here needs to open a nursery and sell these rare trees for like $10/pop+ shipping :) plus have available several rootstocks for each variety :)

Yes...that shipping charge is horribly expensive. I've sold a few things on ebay and have shipped back several larger items in the past, and shipping charges are not that bad, even for heavier items (i've always used USPS).

franktank232,

If someone here did that then they would no longer be allowed to post here. Shipping can be quite costly, especially for an oversized package, which most trees would require.

Depends on how short the trees are. I paid $8.10 to ship back a bike shock (tapered head tubes!)... which weighed a few pounds and was a 37 inch long box. But yes...too long of a box, and you can't use certain forms of shipment. I have no idea what UPS/FEDEX charge.

I could grow a tree for almost nothing, given i have the budwood.

The shipping is the puzzling part to me too. Generally it runs about 20-25 dollars for a box of trees from west coast states. I noticed Arboreum uses Fedex instead of UPS, so perhaps that has something to do with it.

I'm glad Arboreum is in business. I've ordered from them 2 or 3 times before and every time it was a variety very unusual. I always enjoy scanning their online catalog for their new offerings when it comes out , so thanks Mrs. G for the heads up.

I ended up ordering the Imperial Epineuse from Sanhedrin yesterday. The tree was 25 bucks and the shipping was another $25, so it was $50 total. Still a lot to spend on a tree.

My problem is once I know I am paying the shipping for something I want (from anyone) I feel I have to get a couple more trees just to justify it....it always feels like the second tree is half price.

Thanks Olpea! I wish I had room for in Imperial Epineuse. Would love that tree. And, Windfall, I too feel that if I order one extra tree it justifies the shipping. So I ordered two from Arboreum. I have had good luck with most of my shipping and the boxes in which the trees arrive. Arboreum's trees have large and substantial roots. The roots need good packing and attention which they get. FedEx has a different price structure.