This is a twig for grafting.Winter. Possibly a seedling of Roxbury Russet. John Winn intro, Sweden, Maine, early 19th century.
An exceedingly rare and beautiful russet for the root cellar. Medium-large roundish-blocky-truncate fruit covered with a rich orange-opaque russet, sometimes accentuated with faint red radiating stripes. Tart dry yellowish flesh, should make superior cider.
John Winn, one of the first white settlers of Sweden, Maine, is thought to have grown this apple from seed he brought over from Massachusetts. Maine Farmer reported in April 1854 that “Win Russet [sic] … is a native and good apple, but requires a little more trial to establish the whole character of it.” Now on trial on John’s farm in Palermo and the Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity. Our scionwood comes from an ancient tree on the long-abandoned Winn farm at the base of Winn Hill in Sweden. Rediscovered with the help of Tara and Nat Peirce and Greg Marston.
Keeps until May. Uncertain bloom time. Zone 4 or maybe 3.
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.)
