I-95 Apple Scionwood

I-95
Photo copyright Tom Vigue. Used with permission.
I-95
Photo copyright Tom Vigue. Used with permission.
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I-95 Apple Scionwood

This is a twig for grafting. Fall. Possible Red Delicious seedling. Waterville, ME, 1987.

A tasty and rugged dessert apple found growing on a sucker from a neglected ornamental crab near an entrance ramp to Interstate 95 by fruit explorer Jack Kertesz. Propagated by fellow fruit enthusiast Tom Vigue before the highway crew cut down the original tree after it suffered severe storm damage. Medium-large round-conic slightly ribbed fruit is yellow with a red blush and darker red broken stripes and blotches. Reminiscent of Red Delicious in appearance only—I-95 offers a superior eating experience than its presumed parent.

Crisp flesh has a balanced sweet-tart flavor for good fresh eating and great dried apples. Stores into the winter. Skin can be a bit tough and dry, but it’s a fair trade-off for a high-quality apple that needs little care. Jack has always been “intrigued by wild fruit that isn’t insect infested and can grow under unfavorable conditions,” which is what drew him to this one. Tom reports that in his no-spray orchard “I-95 is not susceptible to the wide range of problems that plague its likely parent… It produces a high percentage of dessert-quality fruit without intervention.” Blooms midseason. Z4.



7861 I-95
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L 7861 A: 8" scionwood stick, 1 for $6.00
L 7861 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.

The deadline for ordering scionwood is February 21, 2025, for shipment around March 11. (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.)

We sell scionwood in two ways:

  • By the stick: One 8" stick will graft 3 or 4 trees.
  • By the foot: For orchardists grafting large numbers of trees of a particular variety, we also offer scionwood by the foot (minimum order of 10 feet per 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.

For more info:
About Scionwood