Duchess of Oldenburg Apple Scionwood

This is a twig for grafting. Late Summer. Russia, well before 1800. Also called Duchess or simply Dutch. Imported in 1835 and named to honor Catherine Pavlovna, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, sister of Czar Alexander.

Extremely hardy. Medium-sized round red-striped fruit is crisp, tender, juicy, subacid and aromatic. Highly recommended for all sorts of cooking, especially pies and sauce. If you live where it’ s cold and you’ re looking for one apple, this is it. Historically planted extensively wherever growers needed extreme hardiness. It’s still quite popular in Aroostook county and other northern districts.

Small to medium-sized adaptable tree. Duchess seedlings come relatively true to type, are rugged and hardy, and make good rootstock for grafting (known as ‘Borowinka’ in the nursery trade). Scab resistant. Does not perform well in warmer districts. Blooms early-midseason. Z3.

7834 Duchess of Oldenburg

Item	Discounted From	Quantity
L 7834 A: 8" scionwood stick, 1 for $6.00
L 7834 B: scionwood by the foot (10' minimum), 1 ft for $5.50

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Additional Information

Scionwood

Scions are twigs, not trees. They have no roots and will not grow if you plant them. They are cuttings from dormant branch tips, intended for spring grafting.

We do our best to provide ¼" caliper stock. Because of factors beyond our control (such as weather!) stock may be ³⁄₁₆–³⁄₈".

We sell scionwood in two ways:

By the stick: One 8" stick will graft 3-4 trees.
By the foot: Minimum order of 10 feet per variety. For orchardists grafting large numbers of trees of a particular variety. In our own nursery work, we are usually able to graft 6-8 trees from one foot of scionwood.

You can graft right away or store scionwood for later use. It will keep quite well for several weeks stored in sealed ziplock bags in the refrigerator.

The deadline for ordering scionwood is February 21, 2025, for shipment around March 10. (Please note: we ship scionwood only in mid-March. If you would like to order rootstock to arrive in the same shipment, select mid-March shipping when adding the rootstock to your cart.)

For more info:
About Scionwood