Chickens roaming free-range about our previous nursery in Orchard Homes (Missoula, MT)
Rick Rowsey picking up trees for a project he’s working on at Namchak Retreat Ranch
Liz potting up honeyberries!
McIntosh apples about a month away from being harvested.
Rainbow over our urban location in Missoula
Our dear friend, mentor, and horticulture extraordinaire Bob Purvis at his orchard on a sunny July day after harvesting the ultra delicious Zard apricots
Yellow Transparent’s at peak harvest on 8/14/24. These went on to make some of the best applesauce there is.
Enter the world of cold climate apricot growing. Bob Purvis has spent four decades testing, compiling data, failing, succeeding, and bringing you the best information on cold climate apricot growing, particularly apricots that can survive below -40F. You may not get apricots every year because of their tender apricot blossoms, but by planting these varieties, including Morden 604, Brookcot, Westcot, Debbie’s Gold, Sunrise, and even some bonus apricots such as Zard and Precious, Bob can give you the insight into how to succeed in frosty climates.
March 21st 2025: Getting ready to whip and tongue bench graft our Tipson Plumcot. Discovered in Missoula as an open pollinated chance seedling between a plum and an apricot (unknown which specific parents) that emerged out of our friend Doug Hawes Davis’ compost pile, Doug transplanted this from the compost and let this grow out for several years. Once it fruited, he was amazed to see that this was an PLUMCOT! Luke then selected this after trying the fruit and 2024-2025 was the first year we began offering this on the site. In 2025 (for 2026 growing season), we grafted these almost exclusively onto Manchurian apricot. We’ve only ever grafted these onto Manchurian and Krymsk 86, although we like the vigor better from Manchurian. Check out the Tipson plumcot page for more info.
Getting a head start on the growing season by growing Siberian C Peach seedlings indoor. We started these early March, which allows us to then transport them into the greenhouse early April, and then finally outside full time late April. Siberian C Peach are the hardiest peaches we have grown, surviving down to -35F.