I think Monterey Bay Nursery has them in stock. It's wholesale so you may have to order it through a local nursery. Though I think Patty said they will sell them to you if you stop by in person. But you'd have to check your local county for any quarantine restrictions.

If you aren't up for a road trip out there anytime soon, you could call them for a list of retail nurseries in your area that buy from them. Then special order it through that nursery.
I special ordered a Mandarin "Nules" from them last year and it was a nice full lovely tree.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monterey Bay Nursery

Thanks, Barb! I actually *am* up for a road trip. Have to make sure it's OK to transport, but I think it is - will verify. Can also stop at Menlo Growers for some #15 varieties I have been wanting. How is that Nules by the way?

Sound like fun! The Valentine was on their availability list last week, but if I were you, I'd call them before leaving just to make sure they still have one in stock.
The Nules is doing well and growing nicely, but no fruit yet. I think it's on a C-35 rootstock, so more semi-dwarf than true dwarf. It will be interesting to see what size it gets to be after I put it in the ground. Thanks

Yes, Monterey Bay Nursery will sell retail, BUT I would call them, first, to make sure you can take the tree out of the county, and back to your county. There are so many quarantines now in California, you want to be careful about transporting citrus from county to county. And, like Barb mentioned, to make sure they have one in stock, too. And, no one does true dwarfing rootstock here in California. I have never seen anything grafted to 'Flying Dragon', since there can be so many grafting issues down the road with FD. The closest you'll come is Cuban Shaddock with Four Winds. But, C35 will keep the tree pretty compact.

Patty S.

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker (nearly four years)... finally decided to make an account so I could contribute at last!

Serge,

When I was working an internship in Monterey, CA this summer, I wanted a unique citrus variety to add to my collection in Nebraska, and I felt the Valentine was the most tempting. After looking around, it seemed Monterey Bay Nursery was the best source for these trees. I special ordered it from a local nursery on the Monterey Peninsula, but after a month and a half, I got impatient with the nursery and sent MBN an email directly since my ten week internship was rapidly coming to a close.

The folks at MBN were extremely helpful and they added two of the Valentine trees to the next order they were shipping out, which was the next day. I ended up driving 20 miles to Watsonville to pick one up.

The tree looked amazing, and for the price, it was massive. I've attached a picture of it (that's the size it was when I got it... hasn't grown since then since it's been adjusting to the gritty mix). I was surprised how large it was for being in a 5 gallon nursery container.

Long story short--send Monterey Bay Nursery an email. They were a pleasure to contact and were extremely proactive about my dilemma. Blew me away.

-Tom

P.S. I know you're not supposed to transport citrus around CA, but I figured since I was leaving via I-80 going through northern Nevada, I wouldn't be putting anyone at risk since the tree was confined in the back of my Jeep the whole time. Please don't judge!

This post was edited by tom1328732 on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 18:27

Hi Tom - welcome! - and thanks for the pic of your nice Valentine. It seems to really like your Nevada climate and the care you are giving it.

I called MBN and they were adamant about not selling retail. Not wanting to press the issue I asked them if they sell to a local nursery I like to use and they said yes. I called the nursery and asked them to please order the tree for me and they said they'd "look into it, it might be a while." If I do not hear back, or if they come back with something ridiculous, I will call back down to MBN and ask them to work something out for me.

Also, I called the Monterey County Ag Office (831-759-7325) to check on a quarrantine (none as of today). I will call again if I end up doing a will-call. Even with no quarantine I will still spray and soil drench as soon as then get in the truck.

I'll keep this thread updated as the saga develops!

Serge, if your local nursery doesn't want to order it, let me know. I've put in an order at my nursery where I work and my buyer said it may be this week or next that he'll order from them.

How it works is that most wholesale nurseries have a dollar minimum the retail nursery needs make to order per delivery.
At this time of year most nurseries are ordering maybe once a month or even less, as it's getting into the very slow season, which is probably why your nursery is less than enthusiastic. They just may not have enough orders to make the minimum order.

However, my buyer said even a couple 5 gallons goes a long way to filling out his order, as we mostly buy 1 gallon perennials from MBN, and we are a pretty big nursery, so with your order and mine, with what he usually orders, he may be able to get the minimum filled faster. I work at SummerWinds Nursery in Campbell. It's not as far as Monterey, so less driving for you. PM me if you'd like.

Serge,

Thanks for the welcome and compliment! I actually don't reside in Nevada; rather, I live in Nebraska. Growing citrus is a little more challenging here, but that makes it all the more fun!

I was in contact with a nice woman from MBN by the name of Teresa Sanchez via email. I'd be happy to give her email address to you in a PM (so she doesn't get inundated by spam from bots). Regardless, you're doing all you can right now. Perhaps Barb holds the key to your success, though!

Good luck, Serge!

-Tom

Serge, I would either work through Barb, or give MBN a call back, and ask what nursery in your area would be best to work through, as the one you called wasn't very responsive (and I would let that nursery know that you've taken this business and your future business elsewhere). You will love this cultivar, one of my very, very favorites in my orchard. You can actually taste all 3 of the genetic parents in the fruit very clearly, I find that just amazing. It is one of only a handful of cultivars that has earned a multiple spot in my garden (I have 3 of them).

Patty S.

Just an update. My buyer ordered the valentine pumello this week and it wasn't put onto the truck, : (

He's going to talk to the rep and see what happened. We got a new ordering software system and that could have been the problem.

He's going to try again next week. I changed my order to two trees. If you want one, it's yours, if not, I'll just have two. : )

Tom - that is a very nice valentine tree. very nice form and branching, the trunk is going to have to thicken up though, the fruit on valentine are very large and very heavy. Nice tree!

Wow Hoosier, 3 trees -you do really like them! I do too, you describe it well. one of its issues is the darn seed count, its got tons, not too much of an issue to cut around though. post a picture of them if you have a chance.

Barb - thanks! Let me see what shakes out when I get back from travel on Friday. I appreciate it :)

Well my nursery was able to get their order in to Monterey Bay and let me tell you - what a nice tree! It came in a #5 container but was tall with a very thick trunk rootstock and lots of mature branching. I'm going to say I probably got 2x my money by citrus standards. It's getting potted up in a wine barrel this afternoon!

Wonderful, Serge. MBN is a great nursery, great people, great stock. Be sure to post a pic of your Valentine, we'd love to see it! You will just love this fruit. One of my most favorite citrus cultivars. I thank Dr. Tracy Kuhn at the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection for highlighting this wonderful citrus.

Patty S.

That's great Serge, I'm glad your nursery stepped up.

I got mine last week too, and they are really nice sized trees for a 5 gallon! Really nice company, all there stock is very good. They grow a really big selection of CA natives, and tons of Southern Hemisphere plants, and pretty much all their stock is really nice.

I did get two, but don't worry, my neighbor had second dibs if you didn't need one.

Great, Barb! I will take pics once I get it into a barrel. I will order a Nules from them next. Glad your second one has a home :)