Beauty:
Did you know you can graft seasonal varieties of fruit onto the same tree and thereby have different flowering throughout the year? Check out this gem by Sam Van Aken:
Courtesy of samvanaken.com
This tree has 40 different types of stone fruit that show an array of beautiful colors throughout each season. His purpose of the tree however was not beauty but conservation as the varieties are not commercially produced or available.
Scarcity:
Many exotic fruits by nature are just scarce to your area because the weather prevents vibrant growth. Many parts of North America are too dry and cold for growing exotic fruit trees. Though still possible to do, avid exotic fruit tree growers will work their magic and will grow these trees in the worst of conditions after all, it’s considered a prize possession to have a grafted fruit tree with many varieties of fruit on one tree since getting so many successful grafts on a tree is hard enough to do. Due to fragility of the fruit, heat/cold sensitivity, supply channels, etc. many fruit trees are just never seen or heard of by the average fruit consumer. It’s a shame to think about all the tasty fruit the world has to offer and we have yet to even encounter it. Like a piece of fine art, many enthusiasts in the field will pay top dollar for a rare exotic fruit tree but unlike fine art, the tree provides nourishment.
Conservatism
Grafting fruit trees has a long tradition where many professional arborists cultivated their own varieties. With global warming taking a hold on our climate, its best to note that many varieties of fruit are not as widely available since the trees are either dead or the scion wood isn’t being distributed. In order to save some varieties from going extinct many grafters search and find these varieties for safe keeping.