January 2016
The Daley News
Spring vs Summer
Many people think Spring is the best time to get plants. But Daleys Staff are busy planting grafting, putting down cuttings and seeds. Will they be successful? Answer: We need to wait until late Summer to find out. So don't be like everyone else who has forgot about their fruitful ambitions because it is too hot saying "... it will be on sale in Spring so I will wait" Now is a great time to have the plants sent by mail order even in the heat. We do guarantee it.
Feedback: We listened
On this note welcome to 2016 we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the feedback and great ideas that you offer to us regarding our website, online ordering systems, packing techniques and plants. All your feedback is invaluable to us and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to send it to us. We love hearing your ideas on how we can improve things and we would greatly appreciate if you can keep feeding us with them, in this way we can tailor our business to best suit you.
The transition to be an Online Fruit Tree Nursery
We changed a few things in 2015, Daleys made the transition to be an online nursery, which means instead of tying up multiple staff talking 1 on 1 telephone calls we use those same staff to answer these question by creating Youtube Videos, Facebook & Instagram posts, read and monitor our Forum and respond within 24 hours to any question you have by our Q&A system. We now know we have been able to inspire and reach more people by doing this than ever before. In the past whenever some people had a question they would like to pick up the phone and call but as they become familiar with the Contact Us system they are both satisfied and comfortable with our new system by rating us "very helpful" after our answers which directs them in the right direction online to pics, videos and information which just isn't possible to explain with words on a phone line.
Goal for 2016: More exiting Fruit Trees
In 2016 we are focused on expanding our range of rare and unusual edible, ornamental and native plants. We would really like to hear about the plants you would love us to grow for you, so if you are desperately seeking a favourite tree for your garden please ask us about it as we are keen to grow you those hard to find speciality items if possible. We thank you for your continued support and wish you a happy year growing in your garden.
Fruit Tree of the Month: Wampee Fruit Trees
Wampees are wonderful subtropical trees that grow over a wide range of climates, they are perfectly suited to eastern Australia and will grow from Cairns to Melbourne without much trouble. They are related to citrus and the delicious fruits have a slight tang to the fruit which grow in panicles from the ends of the branches. There are two main varieties, Wampee Guy Sam which is slightly more tangy that the sweeter Wampee Yeem Pay. The trees grow 3-5 m and can be grown in pots or containers. They are delicious eaten straight off the tree.
Staff Picks: Kath
To be honest I have lots of favourite fruit tree but one of my all time stand out favourites is the Mulberry. I love them all. The Dwarf Black mulberry tree is my all time favourite, it is such a prolific fruiter and it has sweet but tangy fruits that I adore fresh, they also make a wonderful jam or mulberry pie if they make it back to the kitchen. White Shahtoots mulberry and Red Shahtoot mulberries are much sweeter fruits and are both scrumptious eaten fresh of the tree. The white is a much larger tree, growing to 8m it is best for gardens with a little space although it can be kept small and grown in pots with some maintenance. For those with smaller backyards the red shahtoot is the perfect choice, it only grows to 3m and is easy to keep compact. Hicks Fancy, Black English, the list goes on, I love them all and have had to make space to keep planting mulberries.
Staff Picks: Rodney
In the last 2 years I have really started to get a taste for and an admiration for the way our Muscadine grape vines here at Daleys Nursery grow. I have watched many of the more popular varieties such as seedless whites and blacks get diseases and perform poorly. Perhaps if you lived in the perfect climate they would work but we don't in Kyogle and I am sure many other people don't and have the same problems unless they are spraying. That was until we got the muscadine grape and gee has it impressed me. We never spray, we keep 3 plants right near our staff lunch area and the grapes come off for months at a time never ripening all at once just 2 or 3 at a time. Makes for a great treasure hunt every day at work. My favourite is the of the whites is the Adonis muscadine grape vine and for the blacks it is the Noble muscadine grape vine. I have definitely been won over to growing grape vines in the subtropics again.
2015 Collage of posts from Instagram & Facebook
Each square picture is a short story we told during the year. These are the ones that everyone liked the most.
2015 Popular Fruit Trees in Review
We have looked back and decided that these 3 fruit trees had to get a special mention for 2015. By no means are they ground breaking or new but it is what the most people were interested in.
1st Mulberry Fruit Trees
No longer must every Australian have a Lemon Tree. It's now a must to have a Mulberry Tree. One thing we have noticed is that in the last year people are branching away from the black mulberries into the red and white. We love to see people becoming more curious and adventurous.
2nd Lychee Fruit Trees
The Salathiel Lychee being far more popular due to it's tiny seed and large size but the other varieties also were very popular across the country.
We could in no way keep up with demand for Avocado Trees in 2015 so the people who were quickest to put their email and mobile down on the Avocado Page were the ones who got notified first. They are easily the most difficult to get established which is why we created the video "Why People fail at growing Avocado Trees"
