I started Purvis Nursery & Orchard in April 2008, shortly after I moved to Idaho from Minnesota. During my time in Alaska (1972-89) I brought a number of Canadian fruit cultivators into the U.S. via the quarantine system to test and evaluate for their suitability in Alaskan conditions. I maintained these in the orchards I later planted in Washington State and Minnesota, not just to observe how they perform there but also so that other fruit growers would have access to them.
The purpose of my nursery is to graft, grow, and sell trees of hard-to-find fruit cultivars (primarily apricot but also apple, pear, plum and cherry) that will survive and ripen in USDA Zones 2-6, for growers in the northern tier of states. My orchard, comprising approximately 1.5 acres, is being used as a germplasm repository for fruit cultivars for the north country and western Mountain states, as well to test the fruit cultivars’ suitability for the Treasure Valley. Purvis Nursery and Orchard offers scionwood of these cultivars to backyard fruit growers and also sells hard-to-find rootstocks in retail quantities. Since 1985, I have taught grafting and pruning classes for the general public in Alaska, Washington, Minnesota and now Idaho and also do orchard consulting for homeowners and top grafting for commercial growers. Now that the orchard is in it's 13th season and coming into full production, we are selling fruit to the general public, concentrating on cultivars introduced by the University of Minnesota, the USDA-ARS, and the New Jersey apricot-breeding program rather than the more commonly available commercial cultivars.
The purpose of my nursery is to graft, grow, and sell trees of hard-to-find fruit cultivars (primarily apricot but also apple, pear, plum and cherry) that will survive and ripen in USDA Zones 2-6, for growers in the northern tier of states. My orchard, comprising approximately 1.5 acres, is being used as a germplasm repository for fruit cultivars for the north country and western Mountain states, as well to test the fruit cultivars’ suitability for the Treasure Valley. Purvis Nursery and Orchard offers scionwood of these cultivars to backyard fruit growers and also sells hard-to-find rootstocks in retail quantities. Since 1985, I have taught grafting and pruning classes for the general public in Alaska, Washington, Minnesota and now Idaho and also do orchard consulting for homeowners and top grafting for commercial growers. Now that the orchard is in it's 13th season and coming into full production, we are selling fruit to the general public, concentrating on cultivars introduced by the University of Minnesota, the USDA-ARS, and the New Jersey apricot-breeding program rather than the more commonly available commercial cultivars.