South Dakota Ben Apple Scionwood

This is a twig for grafting. Fall. Jonathan × Tony crab. South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, 1938. Another introduction from famed northern plant breeder N.E. Hansen, who was the first official USDA plant explorer to travel to Europe, Russia, China, Siberia and beyond, in search of hardy plant material for the Great Plains.

Round long-stemmed fruit is considered a crab but can be larger, up to 3". Pale yellow ground color is covered with streaks of red and a whitish bloom. Juicy lively tart white flesh cooks into a pleasant yellow sauce and is also good for fresh eating.

A standout from one of John’s trips to the USDA germplasm collection in Geneva, NY. Now on trial in our Maine orchards and growing well. Produces annually and has shown disease resistance. Blooms midseason. Z3.

7900 South Dakota Ben

Item	Discounted From	Quantity
L 7900 A: 8" scionwood stick, 1 for $6.00
L 7900 B: scionwood by the foot (10' minimum), 1 ft for $5.50

** Small & Light shipping applies if you order only items with stock numbers beginning with "L".
Click here for a complete list of qualifying items.

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