Marie:

All apple trees sold by commercial nurseries are grafted, since that is the only way the original variety can be replicated. The alternative would be to plant seedling apple trees, which would grow very large and would be unlikely to produce fruit similar to the original.

I think what you may have in mind is a multi-grafted apple tree, which has several apple varieties grafted to a single rootstock stem. This has the advantage of bearing more than one type of apple, and providing the cross pollination that all apples require to fruit properly, without having to plant more than one tree. Yes, multi-grafted trees do grow and produce apples, and many people have them. Their only real disadvantage is the possibility that one or another of the grafted varieties is more vigorous than the others, requiring proper pruning to keep the tree in balance.

Apples are widely adapted to many climates, and can be grown in every state of the U.S., although of course some varieties are better adapted to specific climates than others. A tree from Washington State would probably be quite happy in the mid-Tennessee climate. It would be helpful to your readership if you would mention the actual name of the nursery you are considering, since there is a high likelihood that someone has experience with it. But you need not limit your search to Washington State. Most of the larger nurseries targeted at backyard fruit growers have their own versions of multi-grafted apple trees, some with antique and some with modern varieties. Stark Brothers and Miller's Nurseries both carry them, as do many of the smaller nurseries you can easily find with an internet search. Try punching "multi-grafted apple trees" into your search engine and see what happens. The area around McMinville TN is well known for the production of fruit tree nursery stock.

Of course, the alternative to a multi-grafted apple tree would be to plant two or more trees of different varieties to provide the necessary cross-pollination. That would be my personal choice.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don,

Thanks, for the imformation. Yes, I was talking about multi-grafted apple trees. The nursey name in Washington State is Raintree Nursery. I will do a search engine for multi-grafted trees. Thanks again for answer my question so quickly.

Marie