Matt,
The only acknowledgement I got was the automatic one when I submitted the order. Scions arrived last week, overnighted.
Feeling a pang of guilt for the expense, I emailed Dawn Dellefave, to inquire about making a small donation, but haven’t gotten a response. She’s probably busy dealing with scion orders.
Thanks Jafar.
We had 34 inches of snow dumped on us last week. The region is a mess and still recovering. The mail in and out of Maryland has been at a standstill…
Dawn’s the best! I really like dealing with her.
My request from Geneva came in today. Here’s a pic and the complete list. Let me know if you’d like to try anything that I got. They always send more than I’ll need. This is the first time I’ve gotten sour cherries from them, and it appears that they include a 3rd stick of each variety.
The wood looks great, but there is a bit of variability, probably based on how vigorous the source tree was (or demand for scions). Here are pics of both the largest and smallest. Coincidentally, both are apples from Kazakhstan (even though they are the only 2, among the 10 total varieties). The larger is about 5/16" near the large end and just over a foot long. The small one is around 2.5/16" and they included 2 extra sticks.
I did the same in past but they are unable to accept donations.
My order was just now dropped on the front porch. Mine also was shipped UPS this year. I was surprised at how moldy they were and the bag inside smelled musty too. They shipped it with a wet paper towel this year.
I ordered mine at just before midnight on January 10…I think somebody here said was the cutoff.
Still wishing I’d have ordered Vandevere and Hawkeye.
I placed an order on Nov 2. No package for me… yet?
Matt- What “Excuse” or explanation did you put in that question box at checkout when they asked you why you wanted these scions?
The truth…research
“To test perfomance of the cultivars on land owned by the recipient in the Maryland mountains, USDA Zone 6b, elevation 1,600 feet.”
Got home to find mine arrived today too. Large oversized ups box for 3 varieties. They are nice sized scions but mine also look a little moldy. Gonna dunk in 10% bleach solution tonight.
“Intended use of material:
Other: I’d like to demonstrate suitability for no-spray, small scale rural orchard practice.
Research use notes:
Will graft to established trees in PNW forest clearing, in proximity to native flora and fauna.”
I too had an opportunity to get gravenstein several times and avoided it because if its disease ratings. Its likely a wonderful apple but on paper it looks like one I should pass on.
My explanation was quite unscientific. I wrote that I have good memories about those old Russian apples and that I want to trial them in Midwest area to see if they still worth it. 
Oh, and I promised to share with my fellow gardeners.
Matt,
I emailed Geneva site about my order, and was not expecting any response. I was surprised to receive a reply from Dawn saying that they do have my order and that they are still busy filling the orders received as best as they can. She also said there will be an email when the shipment is on its way.
Bob, I can see in your photo some of yours appear a bit moldy also. I wonder what compelled them to ship with the wet paper towel this year? They didn’t have anything in mine last year and they appeared freshly cut. Mine were clearly cut some time ago, in fact, it looks like a long time ago.
I just heard from Dawn. She says they will indeed be sending my order eventually. Geneva got over 300 requests-- a record high for one year.
I don’t think it is mold. I think that some varieties have a naturally occuring fuzzy film on them, almost like a bloom on an apple. I noticed that Reinette Grise de Portugal had quite a bit on it. Maybe once I’m growing it, I’ll take a look and see if that one in particular has wood like that when still on the tree.
Well, I just got my scion order from Geneva today. I wasn’t really expecting it, as I had only used the paper order form and sent it in by USPS just a couple days before the deadline. Later when I read about the online form and the need for a UPS or fedex acct, I figured that they would like just ignore my order. But here it is. All seems in good shape, no mold (although there is a wet paper towel in the bag).
Still waiting on one more scion source. but things are getting close.
Just need to get my rootstock and parafilm (both on order) and do some practicing…
My apple and peach scions arrived yesterday! Happy!
