I am new to grafting and will be practicing this year, so I have a hypothetical question to ask so I can save some time if I am wrong.

Lets say I have done my research and planted the best varieties on the best rootstock for my area. So I have the best apple, pear, peach and plum varieties. I don't have a lot of room in my yard to plant more trees, but I would like other varieties. So I decide to graft scion wood on to my established trees to make new branches of the extra varieties I would like. Lets say that the varieties I pick are not ideal in my zone. Would this matter since the variety is not actually planted in the ground, but was grafted on to an established tree? Or will that branch of the certain variety not do well, even though it is grafted on to a tree that does do well in this zone?

I hope I did not confuse anyone, and if I did not use the right terminology then please clue me in.

Thanks for any and all help.
Craig

To answer your question about whether grafting less-suited scions onto well-suited rootstock, it would depend entirely on the specifics. There is no simple answer to the question. Many rootstocks are chosen primarily for their ability to produce trees well suited to certain soil or environmental conditions hostile to potential scion cultivars. On the other hand, some environmental limitations could not be overcome merely by rootstock selection.

Since you mentioned terminology, I'll give you this tip. Use cultivar to describe different named selections of plants typically propagated asexually, and use variety to describe a genetic group of plants containing similar and inheritable traits, that vary from other members of their species, known to come true-to-type when reproduced sexually. In other words, the term variety, technically, is more akin to subspecies than cultivar. Misuse of these terms is very common, and I'm sure I do it quite often myself. It can lead to confusion though, so is best avoided, if possible. Other than that, you sound like a pro.

thanks,
Craig