From where should I buy ________? (lawn, growing, strawberries, Fruit Trees)

[NYChistorygal]

As more snow falls on my already 35+ inches, I am, of course, thinking of my new garden. I thought I would start a thread that may help us new, serious gardeners to increase our chances of successful crops. I'm asking the experienced gardeners to tell us where to buy certain plants and seeds. I'd like to start with:

Strawberry starts

tomato plants - starts



Of course, any other suggestions would be appreciated, especially for food crops. Thanks so much!

[grampaTom]

Pretty much any plant nursery is going to have strawberry and tomato plants. So, too will Big Box Stores that carry lawn and garden supplies. Around here all the hardware stores carry plants, seeds and gardening supplies.

Of course you can order online from many online retailers.

I buy my seeds and starts from a local plant nursery to support the small business guys. Just check the date on the packs to make sure they aren't several years old.

There are many plants you can start indoors and then transplant -- just check your USDA planting zone and then find out when you can start to transplant. Here in zone 7 I like to wait until the 2nd week of April except for extremely hardy plants. Sometimes I have to cover at night if we get a late frost warning.

Good luck. Nothing tastes better than a fresh picked tomato eaten right in the garden with dirt on your hands!

[Hemlock140]

While I may buy some few cheap plants such as annual color (like impatiens, petunias, snapdragons) I prefer more reliable sources for edibles and more expensive plants. For tomatoes and some other vegetables I go to a local farmer's market where growers from the Yakima Valley are selling. For others, and more expensive plants such as trees, shrubs and groundcovers I go to a large full-service nursery about an hour away, where the plants are really healthy, well cared for, and staff is knowledgeable if you need help.

https://www.flowerworldusa.com/

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Strawberries, buy from Nourse Farms. That is also the best place to buy asparagus roots. The purple passion asparagus is not a gimmick, it is superb good eating.



https://www.noursefarms.com/


Tomatoes, I always start from seed.



If you are in the PNW, BiMart has always had good bare root fruit trees and cheaper than any where else. They sell heritage and/ or out-of-patent varieties which are excellent for home gardens. Costco has a good price on bare root fruit trees, if you happen to be there when the trees are in so you have access to a good selection. The good varieties sell out fast.

[charlygal]

Originally Posted by NYChistorygal

As more snow falls on my already 35+ inches, I am, of course, thinking of my new garden. I thought I would start a thread that may help us new, serious gardeners to increase our chances of successful crops. I'm asking the experienced gardeners to tell us where to buy certain plants and seeds. I'd like to start with:

Strawberry starts

tomato plants - starts



Of course, any other suggestions would be appreciated, especially for food crops. Thanks so much!

For strawberry bareroots, go with Gurney's. You can get 10-25 for under $20 depending on the variety. For containers, consider Charlotte, for in ground, consider Albion.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I just checked on fruit trees and all of the reputable places are sold out. The places who always have lots of complaints still have trees.



I found one place in Montana that sells good cold weather varieties and they still have trees, but they have a $350 minimum for ordering, which is probably why they still have trees. I have no problem with the $350. My problem is I don't have enough space for seven fruit trees. Plus I have no idea about the company and they are not listed on Garden Watchdog.


Its looking like ordering next spring for fruit trees next year.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you are in Washington or Oregon and want blueberries, you can go to the classified ads in the Capital Press. Their classifieds are online. In the nursery section, the blueberry nurseries will have ads and you can go to the grower and buy blueberry bushes direct.


Capital Press is the agricultural newspaper for Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. As far as I know, all the blueberry growers are in the Willamette Valley and none in Idaho, so this suggestion doesn't help anyone in Idaho.

[fresnochili]

I've seen posts on my fb page about fruit growing by using the actual fruit itself. For instance, the tomato, you cut it open and plant the seeds from the inside of the tomato itself.

Or the strawberry, picking off the outer seeds and sticking them in the dirt filled pot to plant later.

I've never done it, but it looks possible, and a good idea. imo

[steiconi]

You can start tomatoes from cuttings. If you have a warm area, you could start cuttings from existing plants in the fall, plant them out in spring.

I did this in Hawaii; the new plants didn't do much all winter, went crazy in the spring. The few old plants that survived the winter chills (some nighttime lows in the 50s or even high 40s!) didn't usually bear much fruit the second year.