I am interested in Don mentioning in the last post that bare root sales are strong this year for his nursery, and that Dave Wilson Nursery, the wholesale supplier for much of the fruit trees we retail nurseries in nor. Cal. sell, is showing an upswing in sales. Also Melinda, who works at a well established nursery, also sells a lot of bare root. We are located at 2000' elevation compared to Dons or Melinda's locations which are close to sea level. That means we are about three weeks behind in the march toward spring. That may mean are in for an up-tick in bare root sales as we get closer to what most people associate with planting time.
Having been in business for only four years at our current site, we may be getting a false impression of bare root sales potential. I do know that fewer garden centers are carrying bare root. On a trip today Monica and I visited Bushnell's Nursery in Granite Bay, High Hand Nursery in Newcastle, and The Flower Mill Nursery in Loomis. None had bare root for sale! High Hand doesn't sell fruit trees, The Flower Mill was selling fruit trees in pots planted last year, and Bushnell's had a few fruit trees in fiber pots, none bare root. This may explain why people drive to Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis!
I suppose its like anything. The amount of enthusiasm we put into a venture the more we get out of it. I don't intend on giving up on fruit tree sales as they do sell well for us in spring as potted plants. Being that we are a mountain nursery its harder for people to get enthused about gardening as early as the folks in the valley, where today the quince and flowering plums we're blooming.
Thanks Melinda for finding my blog "excellent"! Knowing that people actually read what I write is quite a thrill.