Go to your local nursery. Tell them you are a gardner/conifer collector.

Most of them order from Iseli or Monrovia and a few other popular growers. See if they will do an add on to their Spring order to include a few of the special conifers you want to have in your garden. All sell in various sizes.

A common practice for me here in Kansas City. I have done it for the last 10 years.

I don't know why they would not accommodate you. Selling plants is the name of the game and that's what they are in business for.

Dave

You'll find larger plants (occasionally) from Stanley and Sons Nursery that can help quench the thirst. You need to be an ACS member prior to writing to them (to ask) that you may purchase from them.

Their orders work as follows:
No mixing/matching container size to fulfill an order!
(10) one-gallons is an order
(3) three-gallons is an order
(2) five-gallons is an order
and they will ship (1) seven-ten gallon which also is an order.

You can surely place orders of 10 one-gallons and 2 five gallons, etc-- but all quantity's I wrote above are without exceptions.

Dax
p.s. Do not call them on the phone unless you are submitting payment by credit card. They are a wholesale nursery and expect to not be burdened. They clearly write that in their catalogue and they mean every word of it.

Dave, we have a major nursery chain here in Oklahoma City that is tied to most all of the large suppliers....Iseli, Russells, Bizon, etc. They carry wonderful stock and will order anything for me. They just won't give you a break on price in doing so and I'm just trying to get a break on cost if I can on a couple of major size orders while we are setting up these new beds.

Thanks Dax.....that is very helpful info. I'll go to their website or order a catalog and see how many on my list they can provide.

Any other suppliers anyone can throw out so I have options?

thx mark

Hi Mark,

You apply online to become a customer and after that yo'll be sent via email a username and a password. After all this happens, you can view what's for sale currently from the links on the website. Their availability is always changing and they never have available all the items in their catalogue which they don't even send out anymore. Everything is done online. My mistake on that part. It used to be they'd send a catalogue but now it's paperless.

Take care,

Dax

where is bunkers .... he went through this...

frankly... its hit and miss... and the willingness of the supplier to go through the bother.. and you to pay the shipping ... and for the big box ...

start calling around....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: see #4

Mark...true they are not going to discount to every person that comes into their store. After all do they really know you?

It took me several years to establish myself as a bonafied conifer collector and landscape person.

I established myself by buying from them and becoming friends with the buyer. It helped that he was a conifer collector. I also worked part time...evenings & one day a week-end for several years during the busy time of the year.

As I became better known for the conifers and deciduous plants I was buying they began to take notice and was offered 25% off anything I purchased. It is now 40%. Even with that discount...they still make money.

You can't get there overnight...it takes time...but for the time I have invested I am way ahead of the game.

One other thing: regarding purchasing larger conifers over the internet from collector/growers...the shipping costs for these larger heaver plants will eat you alive. Sometimes more then the plant costs. Take your time...do your home work for the best deal.

Good luck...

Dave

Good link Ken...I found the review thread there done by firefighter that was pretty informative.

Dave, thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to kinda do the same thing you did with this nursery's conifer buyer. He's a great guy....but after a year or so and spending probably a good $1-2K, no deals to speak of yet. But it may come someday. The thing that makes it hard is they will order anything from anybody for you. And the specimens they bring in are gorgeous. But I'm far from a rich man and don't want to take years to accumulate the specimens I already know I want. So I'd love to find one or two suppliers that will take a big order from a little guy.

mark

mark,

send me email if you wish, i have some ideas for you

kb_guess@yahoo dot com

keith

Mark,

It sounds like you are looking for:

**Medium sized, semi-rare and rare conifers(2'-5')
**Priced at or near wholesale
**Limited to a medium sized order($500-1000 range I presume

Goodluck on this. Many of these plants are fairly rare to begin with and seldom are grown to these larger sizes for 'retail' customers. Next, most wholesalers who deal in larger sizes sell their plants in massive lots(with many of the same cultivars going to one location) and with cost-effecient freight to make it affordable to retailers.

There just isn't much of a market for this - and much of a profit.

Your best bet is sticking with smaller specimens and occasionally finding a medium sized bargain plant to supplement and for instant gratification. I've built my own gardnens(over 1,000 conifers and maples) on smaller specimens probably averaging $15-25 a specimen. Some are 1-year grafts, others 4-6 year, but all will be nice enough specimens in a decade or so. Patience is a gardener's best friend.

Now if you're willing to spend A LOT of money, I've seen at least a couple people on these forums place orders for 80-100 nice sized(4'-10') specimens and had them delivered. They didn't post prices but it's safe to assume they still spent in the $10,000-20,000 range. Some large-stock wholesale nurseries still may not work with a single gardener as even at those amounts, it's hard for them to turn a significant profit.

-Will

One more thing to note. Last winter I did an extensive 'review' report on about 15 different online nurseries. Some do sell larger stock(4-10 years old) and some have pretty reasonable prices and shipping. If you're really interested and want to get some good, unbiased insight into some of the more common online nurseries, check them out.

Not trying to promote any nursery but I will mention Iseli as a good source for conifers in the 3-6 gal. range. Most are the hard to find specimens and are choice. Only a retail nursery has their availability list and it is not for the retail gang to see. The list continually changes year to year. I have probably had the best luck with their larger conifers..notwithstanding though; I have purchased other hard to find conifers from small time growers with excellent results.

All that I have purchased were special ordered and tacked on to the Nurseryman's Spring order. I used to do 6-10 a year but I am now down to 1-2 depending on what is available.

Even b&b conifers in the 8-10 ft. range are plentiful.

Will has a good point using the smaller conifers to build his garden. I am guessing he is 30 or something and will have years to watch this conifers grow. For a guy like me I am 60 or something and I go for instant gratification. I have learned how to buy big and know where to get them at a reasonable cost. It wasn't easy but persistence paid off.

The same will work for you Mark...go for it. There is a lot of sound advice for you in this thread. Pick and choose.

Dave

Mark -

Your local nurseryman isn't using his head. I routinely make special orders for customers on my SPRING orders - it's an easy thing to do. The truck comes is, the customers grab their plants and go, I don't have to do a lick of work and I still make some honest profit.

Tell him you're willing to forego any guarantee, and ask for 25% off. Not likely you'd get much of a better deal - a retail operation has so much overhead, and it's not all met by routine retail mark-up...If he still isn't interested, find another nursery. Just about everyone sells Iseli stuff - that would be easy to find.

brian