Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Winesap Apple Scionwood

Scionwood is not a tree, yet!

Scionwood, or scions (pronounced 'sigh-ons'), are the young, one-year shoots you graft with in order to propagate a variety. If you want to propagate a Gala apple tree, for example, you would graft with Gala scionwood!

We collect these scions from trees in our test orchards and are happy to be able to offer rare/heritage varieties!

For more information on scionwood and grafting, click HERE!

History: Winesap's origins are unclear but it is believed to have originated from New Jersey pre-1800s where it was popular for making cider. It is first mentioned in a couple of books on apples in the early 1800s. Winesap was popular in the US until the 1950s due to its good keeping ability but the advent of better storage technology allowed better tasting apple varieties to eclipse it. It is still quit popular with backyard orchardists.

Why We Grow It: Winesap's all-purpose nature helps to explain why it hasn't faded into total obscurity like some other varieties. The medium-large red and yellow skinned fruit is good for cooking and making cider. It has sweet flesh with some tang or 'winey' flavour that is also decent for fresh eating. On top of that, the tree is productive, very resistant to fireblight, and the fruit stores well.

$8.50

Propagation Material:

20 in stock

Fruit Traits:

Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, cider

Fruit Size: Medium

Storage: Keeps until April when stored in cold storage

Harvest: October - Late

Plant Traits:

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

Flowering Time: Middle

Pollination Requirements: Triploid. This variety is sterile and cannot pollinate other trees. Requires a pollinator of a different apple variety that blooms around the same time in order to produce fruit.

Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)

General Growth Habit: Moderately vigorous, slow to start bearing fruit but has reliable and heavy crops once it does, spur bearing. Susceptible to water core and scab but very resistant to mildew and fireblight.

Shipping: Scionwood can be shipped anytime in the spring, although we generally recommend that customers receive their scionwood by mid-April at the latest to ensure it arrives dormant. We can hold it longer if customers accept the risk that the scionwood may start breaking dormancy after this time.

Pickup: We will notify you as soon as your scionwood is ready. We recommend picking it up as soon as you are able and storing it at home.

Click HERE for tips on storing scionwood!

CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

Each scion will have at least 2-4 grafts' worth of material and ideally will be approximately 12-18" or 30cm+ long. Since we specialize in so many varieties/species, there will be natural differences in growth habit and vigour so some varieties may be shorter or thinner. We will provide the best quality we can, within natural restraints.

If a scion is less than 6" or 15cm, it will be discounted accordingly.

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