Anyone ever dealt with Bonita Nursery in San Diego California? About a week ago I called and left a message with them inquiring about a specific plant. A man called me back today and stated that they were swamped with propagation and didn't have time to ship now. He then stated that I could contact them again in the spring to see if they could ship then. WT?

How can you be "Swamped" with propagation? Are you watching them grow!

A lot of specialty nurseries are very small operations (I should know.

Depending on  what you are growing, and what the lead time is, yes you could be propagating your butt off right now. A lot of nursery plants are grown in greenhouses, where seasons don't matter, and are grown to arrive at the retail nursery at a specific time. The most obvious example is the poinsettia. Ever seen one in the nurseries in June? No. But the people that grow them know exactly how long it takes to produce the plant, and start their work that long before Christmas. A lot of bare-root tree growers are probably busing digging and cold storing their trees for Spring shipment before the weather gets too cold or the ground freezes.

So depending on what all they propagate, yes they could be quite busy.

Jon, thanks for your explanation. Maybe it was just the way it was said but I was totally surprised that they were to busy to
sell me a plant.

I would agree about selling you a plant, but there are days like that.

It's really not so uncommon for the reason's Jon laid out. I know of several nurseries that have a specific shipping season which they mush shut down to prepare for the upcoming season, months in advance. It's not that they don't want to sell, it's more about logistics.