I have about 50 Stark & 12 ACN trees in the ground ranging 2 to 5 years, they are all alive, fruiting and growing. Any issues that I have are self-imposed. In addition, I bought 6 hardy figs 2 years ago and complained that they didn't come out of dormancy. They were replaced without question. Problem is, I didn't know figs or the concept of "die-back". I believe I pulled trees prematurely and should have waited before complaining... I completed thinning my orchard today and wish I knew back then what I "think" I know now... I have been reading this forum, watching youtubes, joined clubs, bought Kindle scripts, etc... for 5 years and have read many books. I still have very little expertise that I could pass on... Fruit growing is "hard" and I'm no "dumb bunny".

that is terrible... It kind of reminds me of how people are afraid to take their fast food back, when their orders are screwed up, because they think one of the workers will spit in the new order! Well, Stark Bros has had a good reputation in the past, but it seems like they've started down the road that many nurseries have been going lately. Maybe they're frustrated and less enthused over the economy or something, but they should never take it out on their customers. Tell them you're not satisfied with the order and want a refund. If they refuse, send the plants back without a return label and file a credit card charge back.

IJK, If the tree looks healthy then it should be ok. Those roots will more than likely will branch out all over. Tony

Scott is a huge asset to this forum and so is his list, but he has little interest in growing varieties that have a more common taste although they are not at all common to most people in the sense of tasting them at peak quality ripened on the tree. He doesn't review varieties like Jersey Queen or Loring which are luscious and wonderful varieties but are grown by commercial growers in Jersey and elsewhere. In fact he doesn't review a single variety that has been grown widely in Jersey as a commercial variety in recent years, although TangO's is getting there. I just believe, and Scott and I may disagree on this, that commercial success of a variety often means that it reliably produces crops of high quality peaches, although the two I mentioned can be a problem in frosty areas. I also think his testing methods are somewhat limited because it is about how they perform at a single site and in the context of growing using Surround and organically approved materials, using synthetic chemicals only as a last resort. Also, any variety on a part of his property likely to be hit by squirrels may not even get the chance to be evaluated. All that said, I have benefited greatly from Scott's input and actual grafting wood. A couple of his varieties are now a part of my collection, but the beginner might arguably be better off starting with varieties known to be resistant to bacterial spot and peach leaf curl and known to be adaptable to a range of sites. These trees can later be used to graft on varieties of Scott's suggestion- that is the only way you can get many of them anyway. Even most experienced growers aren't interested in growing 300 varieties of fruit, (I'm not). If you have 100 varieties of peaches it doesn't matter if a variety has a very short picking window (others are following or overlapping) or if it only crops 2 out of 3 years- or if it is available from a convenient source. The most important thing could become, how different it tastes from the other 99.