Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Wolf River 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: Wolf River was raised from seed by Quebec lumberman William Springer in the latter half of the 19th century. When Springer and his family were moving by wagon to Wisconsin, they bought a bushel of Alexander apples along the way. Upon arriving at their new home, he planted the seeds from said apples along the bank of the Wolf River and the Wolf River apple grew from there. This variety has since garnered a reputation as a good cooking apple and for the incredible size of its fruit.

Why We Grow It: First and foremost, Wolf River is legendary for the huge size of its fruit. The apples can weigh a pound or more and there are stories of pies being made from a single apple. The fruit, green with red blush and stripes, has a sweet and tart flavour that is good for cooking and it holds its shape well when cooked. The tree itself is hardy and relatively disease resistant as well.

    $8.50

    Propagation Material:

    16 in stock

    Fruit Traits:

    Recommended Use: Cooking

    Fruit Size: Large

    Storage: Keeps about a month when stored in cool, humid conditions

    Harvest: October - Early

    Plant Traits:

    Canadian Hardiness Zone: 3

    Flowering Time: Middle

    Pollination Requirements: Requires a pollinator of a different apple variety that blooms around the same time

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

    General Growth Habit: Vigorous and very hardy with a spreading growth pattern, slow to start bearing fruit (low precocity), spur bearing. Susceptible to fireblight but resistant to scab, canker, mildew and cedar rust.

    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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