Comments regarding Cummins Nursery

gosh this has to be one of the best places to buy apple pear plum and peach trees. i dont know how they do it but they have some of the best prices on grafted trees. also the lady i have talked to on the phone went way out of her way to make feel like they appreciated my small order. i am reordering again this year!!! greatest nursery!! i put it up there with bear creek nursery that use to be another great nursery untill it closed down ricky poore

Cummins Nursery is a rare gem. How many nurseries have a phone answered by one of the top apple men in the whole country? Jim Cummins gives some priceless advice along with the order. I have ordered quite a few trees from them over the years and the quality has been uniformly high and the prices very reasonable. They have one of the most interesting variety selections in the country as well. You do need to get your order in early or the varieties you want may sell out. They are also a bit disorganized sometime about the orders, it is a family business and everyone is very busy with lots of other things besides orders. They have always done their best to correct the few mistakes they have made, and overall I am a very happy customer.

Being a novice tree grower, I was thrilled to find Cummins Nursery & Dr Cummins. Their impressive credentials are invaluable to a person just starting out. I know they saved me from serious mistakes and their knowledge of genetics got me the best choices in apple trees for my area , which might be the difference between the trees making it or not, here in Colorado. The trees arrived in good condition, and I will be ordering more plants from these folks next year.
Many Thanks!
Julie Berman

Like most, I find dealing with real honest people in today's business world a rare delicacy. Look no further, here it is. I ordered 25 assorted fruit trees this year from them for the first time. They delivered when I requested It arrived within 2 days of my request date. All phone conversations were extremely polite and personable. All 25 trees are doing great. 2 of 6 trees I also ordered from Miller's put in the same area are not so good. Just the chance to do business with some of the few good ol' american businesses would be reason enough for me to order from them again, but add to it a 25 out of 25 success rate, and I have to say, I am sold.

My Mother recently talked about an apple that her father raised for years here in southern Ohio and she had never seen in 50 years, called a Wolf River, known for its huge size. I talked to Jim Cummins and he was so informative about the planting, care, and any questions I had that I ordered 8 along with 8 peach trees. The shipment arrived in mid April and were great trees, We did lose 2 peach trees , and Steve Cummins immediately replaced them. Could not have asked for better customer service, products, and help. I highly recommend this company for any gardening need. They are the greatest. Jim & Brenda Spears

Cummins has a fantastic variety of apples and other fruits. They are very pleasant to do business with. And I was very happy with the shipping and the trees.

I ordered three oddball, hard-to find apple trees from Cummins over the winter. Actually, I ordered two cultivars I wanted, and a geneva rootstock I wanted to try (since I only wanted one, I got it with a named scion on top.) I called, and discussed what was available. The on-line list wasn't completely up-to-date, but Mr. Cummins was very helpful, and checked to see if he had any of the "Tydeman's Late Orange" that I wanted.

They arrived last Friday, after perfect shipping weather, and before perfect weekend planting weather. (Which is partly the luck of the weather, but they took advantage of it.) They were nice trees, as described, fully dormant and in good shape. I only wish I had room for more trees.

This nursery is a good choice for those who need winter-hardy varieties, as they have a good selection of Geneva and other hardy rootstocks. I found them to be very helpful in selecting rootstocks.

Cummins carries a good selection, often with multiple choices of root stock for each variety. There are numerous interesting heirloom varieties and modern introductions. As it happens, I was called away from home for a family emergency at the last minute, and asked to have my ship date delayed at the last minute. All was handled as I requested, and the trees have shown acceptable first-season growth.

This is a good company to do business with.

I have had a completely positive experience with Cummins Nursery. I had placed an order with another company last fall, and the trees never came(even though they cashed my checks); I wasn't sure where to turn. I called Cummins, and they couldn't have been more patient with my beginner questions. I called back a couple days later to place an order, and in 6 days I had my trees. They didn't even ask for money up front. They had all but 2 of they heirloom varieties I wanted,( which will come next spring) and even threw in a "freebie". I will definitely use them again, and recommend them to anyone looking for hard to find varities.

Ordered from Cummins several years in a row, this spring the 'Balaton' cherry and on Mahaleb rootstock, which was not even listed for this spring, however, they looked around and found a very small supply, just enough for me--it arrived on time in very good shape. They took time and effort, which I greatly appreciate.

I had hesitated using Cummins because, despite having had a nice email experience last year with the elder Cummins, who is retired from the Geneva Agricultural Station, I did not want my apples on a variety of rootstocks and some of the varieties I wanted were on different rootstocks from the one I preferred (this year, however, I have changed my mind on this--long story). Also, I was aware of the negative experience posted below. However, emboldened by the positive experiences now being reported here, I emailed again, and had several fruitful interchanges with Dr. Cummins, resulting in my driving down to Ithaca to pick up my order, although, sadly, at this time of year, many of the more desirable antique apple varieties are sold out. February is a better time to place orders than April.

In Ithaca, I dealt with Dr. Cummins' son, Steve, who maintains a large warehouse packed with well-cared-for trees. He likes to "have a conversation" with people about their orders, and I had a long, enjoyable one with him. I wasn't able to get a couple of varieties Dr. Cummins had thought were still available, but found some others that unexpectedly were in stock, and left very happy, with 11 lovely strong, healthy trees (on varying rootstocks) pre-pruned and well-packaged for their trip home, at a fantastic price. Also, Steve gave me a variety to try, which I thought most generous.

Steve will do cutom grafting in August if you can get the "wood." (I had an odd variety I have my heart set on getting.) He gave me lots of useful information on this and other subjects.

Obviously, I am VERY pleased with this nursery, which is really just getting rolling and promises to be absolutely stellar in future. I will be putting in a large order next year. Don't be put off by the confusing pricing system. Have a "conversation" with one of the Cummins.

I ordered apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums and a cherry from this company for 2003 and a few to arrive spring 2004. They have a wonderful selection of old and/or obscure varieties to choose from, and I was especially pleased that they use Geneva rootstocks for a lot of their apples.

They were very easy to deal with and plants arrived when I was told they would and were in good shape. One peach did die and will be replaced next spring with no hassles. I'd certainly recommend this company to anybody interested in fruiting plants.

Made a late season order with Cummins after a bad experience and no trees fm "South Meadow" left me with holes to fill. Talked with Dr. Cummins who gave me all the time in the world, very friendly and helpful. Trees just arrived, on the day they said they would. Excellant shape,
well packed. I will order fm them again. They took the sting
out of a bad experience from brand X.

I've purchased several apple and cherry trees as well as strawberries and grapes from them over the past 3 years and they've been a pleasure to deal with. Not your typical retail outfit. They know their stuff, are helpful and are actively engaged in research/development work.

I've placed an order for fruit trees to be delivered in March of 2003. My emails were promptly answered by Dr. Cummins personally. I will update when my trees arrive. They have a substantial selection of antique apple variaties available.

You guys should order trees from the PNW and then you won't complain about trees standing in a warehouse for a couple of days.

Their trees seem good enough, but their ordering/shipping leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered six trees (four apple and two pear) on March 22. I was told they were all in stock and that they would be shipped the first week ofApril. I did get a confirmation letter that week stating that three of the trees I had order were not available, which, in the interest of pollination, sent me on a search to order those trees that Cummins couldn't provide. Cummins' trees finally did arrive on April 16. They had been shipped the 11th (Thursday), which means they sat in a UPS warehouse during the weekend. I'm sorry, but I see this as a rookie mistake - even if it means waiting a few more days, always ship on a Monday or Tuesday. When I opened the box, I found they had shipped me five trees. Yes, they had managed to scrounge two of the previous unavailable varieties, though one was in a size (a more expensive size at that) that I had not ordered. And along with that came a bill for an extra $29. This would have worked out fine if I hadn't already ordered from Stark Bros the trees Cummins supposedly couldn't supply!!! Now I'm stuck with nearly double the number of trees (and expense) I had planned on. Cummins has a huge varietal list and reasonable pricing, but I doubt if I'll be ordering from them again in the future. I just don't need this kind of headache.

These guys are great! I found their web site, emailed them with some questions about cider apples, and got tons of useful information for free. So naturally I ordered some trees and they were very good about letting me know when they shipped and accurately predicted arrival date. The trees arrived in good shape and are in the ground. I got one year old, bare-root apple trees. Some of them are sturdy whips with a couple of branches, very good-looking trees for the price. Five of the trees were half-price because they are smaller whips. If they all grow as I expect, it will be a bargain. Highly recommended. If you are looking for specific varieties, e-mail them because the Web site does not list all that they have.

They are VERY knowledgeable people, produce quality trees, and pack them carefully. They are a family operation with a strong background in rootstock breeding. If you browse around their web pages, the quality shines through. Most varieties can be had grown over YOUR choice of rootstock. I bought three trees from Cummins Nursery this year--all growing very well.