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Gravenstein Apple Scionwood (Spring 2024)


A beloved heirloom apple from Europe. Also known as Early Congress, Graff Stein, Grave Slije, Ohio Nonpareil.

Like many of the best apples, Gravenstein is difficult to grow. This is partly because it predates modern breeding programs that have selected apples for disease resistance, but it also has some tricky special features that growers must take into consideration. Gravenstein is both triploid and very early blooming. Two diploid pollenizers will need to be present for full pollination, and these should have bloom times that overlap with that of Gravenstein. It should be well pruned and thinned to maintain annual bearing. Otherwise, this tree is large, wide spreading, vigorous, and long-lived. It is susceptible to fireblight, powdery mildew, butter pit, and scab, but very resistant to cedar-apple rust.

The apple is fairly large with a thin skin that is sliced by distinct ragged stripes of red over yellow. The yellowish flesh is firm and fine-grained but very tender and easily bruised. This apple does not store for any appreciable length of time. Gravenstein is sweet-tart. Tasters rave about the honeyed, aromatic flavor, and in Apples of New York, Beach says: "For culinary purposes it is perhaps unexcelled by any apple of its season." (From WSU for Red Gravenstein: "Tannin (percent tannic acid): 0.07; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.56; pH: 3.49; SG: 1.052; oBrix 12.6.")

The origin of this apple is slightly obscure. From Bussey's Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada: "Possibly originated in the garden of the Duke of Augustenberg, Castle of Graefenstein, Schleswig-Holstein (in the far north of Germany), but according to others it was an apple called Ville Blanc that originated in Italy or southern Tyrol and was sent to Schleswig-Holstein. Also there are reports that scions from Italy were sent home by the brother of Count Chr. Ahlefeldt of Graasten Castle in South Jutland (an area even farther north of Germany that is now part of Denmark). Said to have arrived in Denmark about 1669." Gravenstein is now the national fruit of Denmark, and in 2012, Slow Food USA added Gravenstein to its "Ark of Taste."

Volume Pricing

Premiums are included in the following prices if applicable. These prices are for regular scion. Add $1 for clean scion.

Quantity Gravenstein Apple Scion
1 $12.00
2-5 $7.00
6-10 $6.00
11-99 $5.00
100+ $4.00

Order Your Scions

Select clean or regular:

$13.00 ea.

This is the full retail price for orders of 1 scion. You can get these scion for as low as $4.00 each – see Volume Pricing above. More about Pricing & Grading.

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Clean vs. Regular

Our clean scion is harvested from trees grown on G.16, which is extremely sensitive to viruses. These trees would not have survived if the scion contained viruses. Our clean wood has not been lab tested. Regular = may contain one of the common latent viruses; this is not usually a problem and can be used with most rootstocks.

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Like many of the best apples, Gravenstein is difficult to grow. This is partly because it predates modern breeding programs that have selected apples for disease resistance, but it also has some tricky special features that growers must take into consideration. Gravenstein is both triploid and very early blooming. Two diploid pollenizers will need to be present for full pollination, and these should have bloom times that overlap with that of Gravenstein. It should be well pruned and thinned to maintain annual bearing. Otherwise, this tree is large, wide spreading, vigorous, and long-lived. It is susceptible to fireblight, powdery mildew, butter pit, and scab, but very resistant to cedar-apple rust.

The apple is fairly large with a thin skin that is sliced by distinct ragged stripes of red over yellow. The yellowish flesh is firm and fine-grained but very tender and easily bruised. This apple does not store for any appreciable length of time. Gravenstein is sweet-tart. Tasters rave about the honeyed, aromatic flavor, and in Apples of New York, Beach says: "For culinary purposes it is perhaps unexcelled by any apple of its season." (From WSU for Red Gravenstein: "Tannin (percent tannic acid): 0.07; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.56; pH: 3.49; SG: 1.052; oBrix 12.6.")

The origin of this apple is slightly obscure. From Bussey's Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada: "Possibly originated in the garden of the Duke of Augustenberg, Castle of Graefenstein, Schleswig-Holstein (in the far north of Germany), but according to others it was an apple called Ville Blanc that originated in Italy or southern Tyrol and was sent to Schleswig-Holstein. Also there are reports that scions from Italy were sent home by the brother of Count Chr. Ahlefeldt of Graasten Castle in South Jutland (an area even farther north of Germany that is now part of Denmark). Said to have arrived in Denmark about 1669." Gravenstein is now the national fruit of Denmark, and in 2012, Slow Food USA added Gravenstein to its "Ark of Taste."


The Fruit

Fruit Type

Category: Apple
Subcategory: Heirloom, Cider, Hot-Climate

Fruit Uses & Storage

Uses: fresh eating, cider, baking
Cider classification: sharp
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)

Fruit Appearance

Skin color: red
Flesh color: yellow

Fruit Origins

Parentage:
Origin: Germany or Italy
Introduced in: 1600s
Introduced by:

The Environment

Calendar & Geography

USDA zones: 5 - 8
Chill hours: 700
Ripening date: Aug 25 (approximate, in New York State) 21 days before McIntosh

Diseases & Pests

Apple Scab: Susceptible
Bitter Pit: Very Susceptible
Cedar-Apple Rust: Very Resistant
Fireblight: Susceptible
Powdery Mildew: Susceptible

Pollination

Pollination Factors

Bloom group: 1
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? N
Ploidy: Triploid

Pollination Partners

This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Gravenstein Apple. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.

Tree Ships Currently in Stock
Virginia Crab Apple 2024 0
Elstar Apple 2024 0
Rubinette Apple 2024 0
St. Edmund's Russet Apple 2024 0
Liberty Apple 2024 0
Cripps Pink Apple 2024 0
Melrose Apple 2024 0
Freyberg Apple 2024 0
Bramtot Apple 2024 0
Muscadet De Dieppe Apple 2024 0
Sturmer Pippin Apple 2024 0

See all pollination matches for Gravenstein Apple






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