Where to buy an almond tree?

[moggssue]

My friend is getting married in May and rather than give the traditional bouquet of flowers for the mums, they want to buy them an almond tree each. A google search didnt turn up any suppliers - anybody have any ideas?

Cheers all!

[quark1]

Ken Muir sell them - but sadly out of stock until Autumn 2008 - would a voucher or an advanced order serve as an alternative?

[moggssue]

Thanks for that Quark - seems KM is the only place to say they sell almonds at all, obviously not very popular and i thought it was a jolly good wedding pressie keepsake thingy!!

[Two_Sheds]

They're £45 on eBay, but are tricky to grow: "Prunus dulcis (Common Almond) can be grown in southern Britain but as almond trees tend to flower very early in the year and are susceptible to frost damage, some form of protection will probably be necessary if you want your tree to bear nuts. Most almonds are self sterile and need to be cross-pollinated, so encourage bees to come into your garden (e.g. by companion planting) to ensure good pollination. Almonds need deep soil, a warm climate and adequate rainfall (16-40"/yr) and like peaches, they grow well against south-facing walls." from NUTS

[TPeers]

I'll go up to our local nursery if you want and ask but I suggest that the RHS Plant Finder is the place you need - you have the latin name courtesy of Two Sheds and you should find plenty that way - my 2003-4 edition had over 20 suppliers and if you want one of the ornamental types there are over three pages of them!

[BayViewPlot]

Bought mine last season and got about a dozen (small) nuts..happy days
out of stock till Nov

Almond Tree 'Robin' (Prunus dulcis 'Robin')