A little bit about me

Cultivating The Hardiest Avocados in North Florida

Roots run deep around here. We operate out of two acres in the North Florida woods of Clay County and Camo Ranch Avocados is built on one simple philosophy:

“If a tree or plant can survive and thrive through wild weather, it belongs in the ground.”

I’m Chris and my journey with cold-hardy avocados started as a personal obsession and has now grown into a fully registered, inspected nursery operation dedicated to supplying resilient, well-acclimated trees to the community around us.

I fell in love with avocados years ago when I was in college. My parents moved to Hawaii and had a property full of avocado trees. There were so many avocados it was impossible to eat or give them all away before they rotted. Whenever I went home, we ate avocados every day and I quickly fell in love with the wonderful fruit.

When I finally purchased my own piece of property in Florida, I started looking for plants I could grow and was thrilled to find out that there were cold hardy varieties of avocados that would grow here. Before long I had my first tree and thus my obsession started. I researched and learned everything I could and now I have started my own nursery devoted to growing these marvelous trees.

My main in-ground anchor tree is a “Lila” avocado tree that has now weathered the elements for over three years here. It is complimented by a younger “Fantastic” cultivar that has been in the ground about 2 years. I also am in the process of cultivating a “Pancho” variety and will soon have a few of those in the ground as well.

Each tree is planted in a raised bottomless planter bed made from corrugated plastic window well liners, so that the trees have great drainage and root structures to thrive in our Zone 9a climate. This way of planting ensures that the trees can handle the heavy seasonal rains and the brief cold snaps we get during the winter.

Every seedling and grafted is raised with care, starting out in native sandy topsoils mixes, grow bags and mini-greenhouse setups, with a 10x20 foot encloser protected by a shade cloth during the extremely sunny days. Whether you are looking to establish a backyard producer or want stock that can handle a bit of northern frost, the trees we sell are field-tested for the long-haul.