Demand for traditional and new varieties of quality fruits, healthy eating and the heritage of growing at home are the roots for Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia's Hollybrook Orchards brand of fruit trees, berries and nuts. From the Golden Delicious apple to the Russian goumi berry, Hollybrook Orchards out of the gate offers the broadest selection of fruit trees in the East.
"We have fruits your grandmother enjoyed to exotics from across the globe," says Robin Rinaca, general manager of Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia. "Hollybrook Orchards offers 200 varieties of fruiting trees, plants and nuts. We grow from selected root stocks to produce very high quality, properly-sized trees that will provide the homeowner with fruit in the first year of planting."
Eastern Shore Nursery has been growing fruit trees for 12 years and now is bringing it all together under the Hollybrook Orchards brand. Proven favorites like McIntosh apples, Elberta peaches and Anjou pears are mainstays along with new varieties such as sweet cherries from the Cornell University breeding program, which are specifically developed for the Eastern climate. Rinaca says she's seeing a growing trend she calls "orchyarding," where people are planting their favorite fruit trees in small orchards in their yards.
"We have the heirlooms and the exciting new varieties and tastes that you can't get anywhere else," Rinaca says. "Every day we're discovering more and more fruits that have anti-oxidant and other health benefits, whether it's the blueberry or exotics like the goumi or wolfberry. Home fruit production ties directly into people wanting to learn and control what goes into their body. If you want to sell fruit trees that please your orchyarding customers, you really should be selling the Hollybrook Orchards brand."
To help their garden center customers better present and educate the buying public, Hollybrook Orchards will place special emphasis on labeling, point of purchase information and growing instructions, supported by a website that will provide even more details. The company has employed 15 artists to create botanical, Audubon-like images, complemented by extensive plant description, planting and care information. Pollination charts and laminated pocket-sized information supplements will be provided to garden center staff to help them better serve their customers.
"There will be nothing in the industry like the artwork for our labeling and support information," Rinaca emphasized. "We are committed to helping our customers provide the best fruiting trees and service in the business."
