Larry,

I hate to throw cold water on your plans but.....Have you noticed all the dying red bay trees around the county? The trees with the dead leaves still hanging on them? That is caused by an accidental introduction of the ambrosia beetle. One of the host trees for the beetle is avocado.....the beetles are 100% fatal to the trees. Planting a avocado now probably won't work out well for the tree.

Holy cow! First the citrus (citrus greening disease), now the avocado? I had no idea. How widespread is it?

Carol

Thanks for the interesting evening of reading, Mr. rabbit.

Carol - The beetle carries a fungus that can kill a tree. It was reported as early as 1985 in South Carolina. It can attack most trees. The only proof trees are the conifers. Known hosts include mango, papaya, crape myrtle, magnolia, maples, oaks, peach, persimmon, redbud, sweet gum, tulip poplar and walnut.

I don't see much of a reason not to plant a potential host tree. People across the South have been planting listed host trees without wholesale destruction for many years. I can see the concern from the commercial avocado growers. Its much harder for them to inspect all of their trees every day like we can.

So I am still looking for a great semi=local nursery.

Larry

Here is a link that might be useful: Good beetle article.

Larry,

That list of trees seems odd.....we have millions of oaks and magnolia in the county yet just the red bays have died. Perhaps the fungus is not fatal to them?

I didn't post it as a you shouldn't plant it because you will further the spread of the beetle. I posted it to let you know the tree will likely die before it produces fruit.

The link below should more accurately advise you of the risks. But if it dies you are just out a few bucks so what the heck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ambrosia Avocado link

I have found a good source of plants to be at the Howard's flea market in Homosassa. There is a women in the front section that offers many plants at great prices. If you go along the south side of the flea market going east, you can usually find a gentleman at the end of one of the covered sections with some different varieties. Then at the back of the flea market there are some more individuals that have been there for years. All seem to have certain varieties that they prefer to carry and can obtain others by request. Prices have always been good, and we have never had health problems with the many hundreds of plants purchased.
Don

Mr. Rabbit - I had read that article and thought it strange, too. I hadn't waded through all the scientific naming or I would have seen the difference. There seems to be more than one ambrosia beetle. One does seem to prefer the laurel family while the other(s) are less picky about their home. I agree with you about planting anyway. We wouldn't have much of a garden if we avoided everything that might die. I have given up on an avocado for now because I wasn't getting very far with finding a local tree. I got a beautiful olive tree instead. I also think the olive will give me a lot more interesting preservation projects to play with.

Well now, I just saw an add in the shopper over in Bushnel at the mexican restaurant. It is for 'Paul's Nursery and Fruit Trees'. Its a 5th generation outfit that sells to the public at the same price as their commercial accounts. Its in Groveland. I haven't gotten over there yet, but it sounds promising.

Larry

There is always Color Country in Lecanto. Though I would definitely not call them great, they are at least local. Also, Moran's Fruit Farm in Floral City does a small nursery business, though they primarily sell u-pick fruits.