Esopus Spitzenberg Apple Scionwood

Available for pre-order Dec-Feb - Ships in the spring (Mar-May)

Ask to be put on our waitlist!

Grown by: Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

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!

Why We Grow It: The flavour of this particular variety is complex with high acid content, considered by many to be a high quality fresh-eating apple. This is helped by the attractive medium sized fruit which sports bright red skin. This variety keeps, with good flavour, until March. Despite being susceptible to just about every common apple disease, we still believe this apple is worth the extra effort and hasn't had much issue growing here with no extra attention on our part.

Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, cider

Fruit Size: Medium

Storage: Keeps until March when stored in cool, humid conditions, flavour improves after a few weeks in storage

Harvest: October - Mid

Cider or Perry Class (if applicable):

  • Sharp

Class: Sharp
Sugar: High
Acidity: High, >4.5 g/L
Tannins: Low to medium, <2 g/L
Recommendations: Can be used to make single-variety ciders

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5

Soil Preferance: Sandy loam, loam, clay loam. Prefers average to moist conditions, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring. Generally quite adaptable to different soil conditions.

Flowering Time: Middle

Bloom Colour: White

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: Spur-bearing, moderately vigorous but low precocity, tendency to have heavy crops every other year. Susceptible to scab, canker, cedar rust, fireblight and mildew, but seems quite content in our test orchard and produces quite well despite these recorded susceptibilities.

Overall Grower Ease Rating: Low

This rating is a combination of our experience growing in our test orchards and current available information on the cultivar.

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.

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.

$10.00

Propagation Material: Scionwood

Out of stock

Purchasing Bareroot

New to bareroot? We've got you covered on what to expect when ordering bareroot plants

Visit the Blog

Full of orchard education, fun recipes, and other fruit related content!

We are here for you!

Over the last 16 years we have helped thousands of orchardists begin their journey. Questions? Just ask!

Our Standards

We are committed to growing the healthiest, finest plants. Read about our growing standards. It all matters.