Shazaam,

The outfit near Gainesville Fl? If so they are a very big producer of plants, 10's of thousands. When you drive by their fields they just go on and on. You will get the variety you want no problem. They deal mostly with the commercial BB growers here. The plants you mentioned as $21 for $5 what size are they? Last time I tried to buy from them I wanted 25 1 gallon sweetcrisps and they wanted $11.99 a plant and would offer no discount even on a 50 plant purchase so I looked elsewhere.

That sounds right, bamboo. They claim to be one of the largest commercial blueberry nurseries in Florida. The $21 for 5 was only the shipping cost -- most of the 1 gallon sizes are currently priced at $8.90 each, including Sweetcrisp. I'd planned to order from Mail Order Natives (thanks to brady's recent post), but Island Grove is a bit less expensive and has a lot more variety (including a rabbiteye, Vernon, that sounds really interesting).

shazaam,
If ordering from Island Grove and it is successful,please post it here.Because I tried a couple times to order on their website and the shopping cart always stayed empty,so I stopped trying. Thanks,Brady

The claim would be correct, they are a quality operation. $8.90 a plant is such a ripoff though. The commercial guys are buying those same plants for $2 a pop. I bought very nice one gallon sweetcrisps for $3 from true blue though we bought 50 of them. Stores like Lowes sell 1 gallon BB for $10 each so I guess if you look at it that way the $8.90 is a deal.

That's one heck of a volume discount. Still, you're right -- the retail price (even with shipping) is competitive with the big box stores, and I'd never find any of these particular SHB varieties locally.

So far, Brady, I've had no trouble adding items to my cart, and I was able to get most of the way through the checkout process so that I could see the shipping cost. I'll follow up if I decide to place an order and do so successfully.

Okay,I just went on to their site and did a mock order.The state of Washington,where I'm at,isn't even listed in the states drop down menu,along with some other states.Apparently they can't sell to them.
It's rather odd though,because when I talked to Connie Horner at Horner Farms about getting some Sweetcrisp,she said she couldn't and referred me to Island Grove.
I think Fall Creek Nursery in Oregon has the exclusive license rights to the Pacific NW and other places,but they don't sell retail. Brady

Brady,

So you have not been able to find any sweetcrisps in your area?

This post was edited by bamboo_rabbit on Mon, Dec 3, 12 at 8:36

bamboo rabbit,
No they don't sell them here yet and only a few kinds of Southern Highbush at the major nurseries.
I did get five online after hearing about FHN about a year ago.Also ordered two from Mail Order Natives and yesterday found a Georgia grower on Ebay that has about six month old ones for $3 each with no shipping charge and bought ten. Brady

Thanks for mentioning that eBay listing, Brady. I ended up ordering 10 plants, as well. The seller was super nice and agreed to send me four varieties (rather than just two, as specified in the listing), and they're on their way to me now. That should be enough to keep me busy for the coming season, so I don't think I'll be ordering from Island Grove after all.

shazaam,
I probably should have made a link here to the Ebay seller.I'm glad it helped though.

Just to make it clear,the five plants I bought were from another supplier after hearing about the FHN(Florida Hill Nursery)mix up with Sweetcrisp and people not getting what they expected,of which I bought three. Brady

Did you receive your eBay order yet, Brady? I'm curious as to what you think of the plants. The listing didn't specify (and I didn't ask), but what I received are rooted cuttings. They look a little rough, but that might be reasonable under the circumstances. I haven't purchased rooted cuttings before, so I don't really have anything to compare them to.

This post was edited by shazaam on Fri, Dec 7, 12 at 18:28

Yes,about an hour ago.They are mostly like sticks with some roots,in a small box.I put them in some small pots with some bark and peat.Let's hope they grow. Brady

Looks like we've been doing the same thing -- I just finished potting mine, as well. Like yours, they're pretty much sticks with golf ball sized root balls. On the bright side, most look viable, so I'm optimistic that the majority will survive.