For more than 200 years, Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. -the oldest continuously-operated nursery in the United States- has been helping gardeners across North America successfully grow their own food. Specifically, we offer top-quality fruit and nut trees, small-fruit and garden plants, and supplies to grow and enjoy bountiful harvests. The experience and expertise we have accumulated over two centuries means you can be sure you’re getting time-tested tree and plant varieties, along with the resources and personal support you need to be a successful gardener.
Most people know Stark Bro’s for the Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples, which we discovered and brought to market well over 100 years ago. We’ve never stopped innovating, and we’re constantly introducing new items. In the U.S., we offer USDA-certified organic trees, trees potted in our patented EZStart® pots, and exclusive Honeycrisp crosses that are resistant to bitter pit. We’re looking forward to offering these leading-edge products to our Canadian customers in the near future.
We’re proud to remain a leader in the industry in modernization, productivity, and superior customer care. The one thing that doesn’t change is our promise to always ship first-quality trees and plants directly to your door, and then stand behind them.
The Stark Difference
Today, the dedicated Stark team works in the same county that James Hart Stark, our founder, settled in more than 200 years ago. Our 300 acres of orchards, fields and greenhouses are all located in Louisiana, Missouri, allowing us to ship our hand-packaged trees and plants from one central location. Your order will arrive at the appropriate time and in good health, whether it’s delivered in the U. S. or Canada.
Our production staff is second to none. Their knowledge, experience, and commitment are reflected in their care and handling of every tree and plant that leaves our warehouse. The attention to detail, daily monitoring of the storage environment, nutrition and moisture, and cultural practices all mean that your order will arrive in prime condition, with the best possible chance for growing into a healthy, mature plant.
Have the Confidence to Grow, Guaranteed!
As every gardener knows -including us- sometimes the unknown or the forces of nature can detour your success. That’s why we offer you a survival guarantee for the first year.
Knowledge is the key to successful growing. You can consult a multitude of resources to help you along the way, like detailed Growing Guides, how-to videos and an active social-media community of customers like you, with whom you can share information, triumphs and lessons learned. Use our secure website to find trees and plants that are naturally suited to growing well in your particular area. You can look through our real-time inventory 24/7, when it’s convenient for you, and scoop up one of our frequent promotions or sale prices. Between our U.S.-based customer service agents and our helpful website, we know you will find the right products for you, and succeed in growing them!
Our Growing Passion
The benefits of growing your own food are many: you’ll eat healthier food, save money and help the environment. Respecting and conserving our natural resources is a value we have in common with our customers, and we often share tips about sustainable growing practices.
For our part, we have installed solar panels on our warehouse to generate a clean source of renewable energy, and we have been using recycled materials in our shipping warehouse for decades now. Even our print catalog has been shelved, beloved by customers but which used a tremendous amount of paper. In the end, we’re saving thousands of trees. We’ll also be expanding our organic products in the U. S. and eventually in Canada.
“So it has been that ever since 1816, the name of Stark Bro’s has stood for all that grew best in nature for the good of mankind.
This is our heritage, and this is our task – our duty: the preservation of this good reputation, the continuation of the public faith in the integrity of every promise, every claim, every product that Stark Bro’s offers.” – Edgar Stark, 1916
These words resonate with us, and we are eternally honored to have the chance to carry on the tradition of helping home gardeners successfully grow and harvest their own food.
We put product quality and customer satisfaction above all, for without your success, we have none. Our founder, James Hart Stark, had a mission to bring his grafted apples to the West so homesteaders could grow more reliable varieties. Our mission is to be good stewards of his legacy, the remarkable history of this company and to perpetuate the fine traditions he began so long ago.
We’ve Got Deep Roots
In 1816, James Hart Stark and a small band of pioneers migrated by covered wagon from Bourbon County, Kentucky to settle on the fertile western banks of the Mississippi. Little did James know that the apple-tree scions he carried in his saddlebags would one day launch an international nursery dynasty.
James Stark was skilled at the art of grafting to produce better fruit varieties, and demand grew quickly for superior trees he grew. The railroads opened the door to nationwide shipping, and soon, Stark Bro’s was a household name.