Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

McIntosh 1st Generation 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: John McIntosh planted several apple seedlings upon settling in Dundela, Ontario. From these, he discovered the famous McIntosh apple as a seedling in his orchard. The family began selling the fruit and grafted McIntosh trees in 1835 and in 1870 it entered commercial production. By the 1900s it was one of the most popular apples in northeastern North America, although its popularity waned over time as varieties such as Gala were introduced. Nonetheless, McIntosh apples still remain some of the most popular in North America. The original tree died in 1906 after being damaged by a house fire and a commemorative plaque marks where it stood. The apple has since been named Canada's national fruit. The Macintosh line of Apple computers was also named after this variety.

Why We Grow It: For fans of Canadian heritage apples in particular, this one is hard to beat. To the best of our knowledge, this is the original strain of McIntosh. Aside from its storied past, McIntosh apples boast soft, slightly tart flesh with high Vitamin C content. It is excellent for fresh eating and making applesauce.

    $8.50

    Propagation Material:

    16 in stock

    Fruit Traits:

    Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, cider

    Fruit Size: Medium

    Storage: Keeps until June when stored in cold storage

    Harvest: September - Mid

    Plant Traits:

    Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

    Flowering Time: Early

    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: Moderately vigorous and precocious with heavy crops, spur bearing. Susceptible to scab and canker but resistant to cedar rust and quince rust and 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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