Can you already feel the stirrings of spring? We sure can! Right now we are excited for the warming earth and for the spring fruit shipments starting in February and March. Fruits are different from other parts of the horticulture industry – these specialty plants are only grown by a very limited number of growers, and orders must be placed MANY months in advance. We also grow some fruits ourselves, at our Propagation Farm.
While we also bring in fall fruit shipments, our spring fruit shipments are the largest in size and diversity. We also bring in slightly different things each year, depending on availability and demand. For 2024, we have a large selection of extremely rare and unusual Citrus plants, we have also expanded the Pomegranate offerings, and have a select amount of Olive trees. Have you ever wanted to try Hazelnuts? Or how about some of the Arctic Hardy Kiwis, with delicious fruit AND beautiful variegated foliage?
Are you interested in growing the hard-to-find but incredibly delicious Pawpaw, native to riverbanks in our region? We have a good selection of specialty grafted Pawpaws, in addition to the “wild” type grown from seed.
We also have our once-a-year shipment of our native Passionflower, Passiflora incarnata, with gorgeous out-of-this-world blooms, edible fruit, and foliage with a long history in herbal medicine. Passionflower is also the host plant for the caterpillars of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly and the Zebra Longwing butterfly.
For those of you who are just looking for some tried-and-true plants, we also have a very large selection of Apple trees and northern highbush Blueberries, among many other trusty standbys. This is a great region for growing Apples, as the many nearby orchards can attest. Northern highbush blueberries are native to this region and as long as their specific needs are met, they can be wonderfully delicious, productive, and attractive plants in the landscape. They can also be extremely long-lived and play a critical role in helping our native bees.
One of the great pleasures of this time of year is meandering through the nursery and selecting the exact plants that you want. While many may look “naked” without their foliage, dormant plants can easily be inspected for form / branch structure, and will not suffer the same kind of transplant shock as they can during warmer months when they are fully awake.
For more information about exactly what we have on hand, please check the Live Fruit Inventory. As always, staff are very happy to discuss fruits and how to help you create the wonderful edible garden of your dreams.