Back in December I posted about all these plant and seed catalogs I had gathered. In January I ordered seeds, and this month I ordered rose bushes and some fruit trees. I’m now done ordering plants for this year with the exception of purchasing some rhubarb at the local garden center this spring.
I would like more plants than what I have listed below but I wanted to select an amount that seemed reasonable to manage and undertake this year, and I needed to keep our budget in mind. I hope to purchase a second lot of fruit trees and bushes next year. Until then, here’s what I have planned out for this year:
Fruit Trees Online
I opted to buy from Stark Bro’s this year. I selected dwarf varieties for all the trees I purchased. Shipping was free because my order was more than $85. My plan is to espalier the trees. The bushes will fill some bare spots in my flower beds.
The lemon tree will have to be brought indoors each year. So far the rosemary and bay laurel I brought in during the fall are growing splendidly, so I have high hopes for keeping a lemon tree year-round in Cleveland, Ohio!
Fruit Trees Online
I went with Heirloom Roses this year and received an extra 10 percent off my order in celebration of Valentine’s Day weekend. I used to work in a floral shop, so I have a passion for certain varieties of flowers. When looking at colorful flowers that would continually bloom – I was drawn to roses.
I purchased three (pink & red) of the tea variety – long, fragrant stems I can use fresh cut in arrangements. I also purchased one white rose bush that should also produce color year-round and rose hips in the fall. Rose hips can be used to make jams, jellies and teas.
With both Stark Bro’s and Heirloom Roses I opted to have my plants ship in a few weeks once we thaw out a bit. I appreciate the convenience of buying now when there are sales and better selection, and then receiving my plants later.
Have you ordered fruit trees online?
Son of a gun! Our gardening group just had a guest speaker last night who owns a local tree farm (Womacks Nursery) and is seeing everything moving to online sales. They have excellent trees because they are suited to our wonky Texas climate. It was 7 last week and 80 yesterday! For this reason, I’d have to be very picky about where my seed came from. I bet things grow much easier in Ohio!
I have lots more ordering to do. We ordered fruit trees a couple years ago from Trees of Antiquity and most of them are doing very well. I hope I can keep the Japanese Beetles off them this year, though, as they destroyed a couple last year! I’m your newest follower… 🙂
Good to hear. I had the Trees of Antiquity catalog as well but wanted to keep things simple and just order from one company. They had a very large selection though!
I am so behind the eight ball! One of my boys (age 10) is a future farmer. He lives and breathes farming. I recently ordered catalogs for him to lean how to plan his planting and you would have thought I bought him a lego set!
Thank you for sharing:)
I have never thought about buying trees and plants online as our local nursery is so close, it definitely looks like a great option though!
Yes, I should add that one of the reasons I did this was I could not find dwarf trees at my local nursery. There are a lot more options when you do mail order.