This is a twig for grafting.Early Fall. Blue Pearmain seedling. Abbot, ME, about 1820. First called Macomber.
Medium-sized round rosy-red striped and blushed fruit. Firm, sweet, mild and beautiful. Excellent fresh eating and cooking. A good alternative for those who love McIntosh but don’t want to deal with scab. We never spray fungicides and we get excellent fruit.
Popular in the 19th century in most cold regions of Maine, filling the fall niche before Mac’s rise to fame. Our scionwood originally came from Sweetser’s Orchard in Cumberland Center. Their ancient tree was finally cut down a few years ago after many decades of service and replaced by several young Rolfe trees grafted by Fedco! Keeps through the fall. Triploid: will not pollinate other apples. Blooms midseason. Z4 or maybe Z3.
Scionwood and early rootstock orders ship around March 10.
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.)
