Ayers pear!

It just takes some time @k8tpayaso a 1 year old pear often times produces undesirable fruit.

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Sometimes I picked Ayers at a good stage and they were awesome but sometimes they were difficult to get right. After a few years growing Ayers I think the age of the tree does influence the quality of the pear. Another factor in my opinion is that our hot and humid weather during the ripening period also influences the quality. Ayers was either very good or pretty bad.

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You answered your own question. Just wait and taste will improve.
My Ayers is on fourth leaf and last year taste was good and this year got lot more pears and taste is very good. I am so glad that I have this pear. :sunglasses:

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Lots of you may think I’ve eaten my ayers pears and didn’t say a word about it but this is a very different year and that’s not the case. They have bad foliare rust this year but that impacts only foliage not fruit. Tried one and you can see the seeds are clearly still white, flesh is very firm so obviously not ripe yet. No pears at my farm have been sprayed in years. Once those seeds turn black these will be mature and delicious but they are very late.



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Our very first Ayers pears have been coming in here. Tree has been in the ground for nearly 10 years, and I’m pretty sure it’s on callery. Would’ve fruited last year, but a heavy late freeze zapped its blooms; and a less severe one decreased its first crop this year. We’re trying to get the trick of ripening them. The first successfully ripened one was put in the fridge for a few days then placed at room temperature in a paper bag (along with an apple). Took a couple of weeks or near it, but the resultant pear was a soft, sweet and all-round very good Euro pear. Am also leaving some room temperature sans refrigeration and am going to chill some in the fridge for longer duration. As far as picking, I’ve been looking for a little give in the neck and whether they lift away from the tree when gently tilted to horizontal. Hope I’m doing it right!

Most of these first pears have tended toward smallness—which I understand is characteristic of Ayers—but they vary.

Ayers does indeed seem very fire blight resistant----only minor strikes over the years, and it’s right next to where a Hosui was killed by the blight last year.

I think I like it!

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Glad that harvest is over as much as we loved it the trees were very heavy. A friend came to help me pick and picked hundreds of pounds that we split. The harvest was on August 31st 2021.



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Do they ripen any better with refrigeration?

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Many pears do ripen better with refrigeration but it’s mostly texture that’s improved but for some it can be flavor. Ayers is still a southern pear and still has some grit and some flavor not everyone likes. Some family members peel them and love them without the peel. It’s juicy and melting but some palates are then confused and feel a little betrayed by the occasional grit next to the peel or by the core there can be grit. In the south it’s considered one of the very best. I agree with them I enjoy it but cannot rate it as high as Warren, Harrow sweet, Harrow delight, seckel and other disease resistant pears. It does not mean I don’t love these sweet , refreshing , wonderful ayers pears! They are productive and delicious but don’t expect them to be clara frijs they are not that class of pears.

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Evidently my Ayers are both something else…strange as one tree came from “the nursery capital” McMinnville, TN and the other in a scion trade from the Left coast. A large pear quite a bit bigger and just a tad later than Bartlett.

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My story is the opposite. I bought six pears from Lowes a while back. 2 Ayers, 2 Bartlett, and 2 Moonglow. They all fruited for the first time this year and turns out every one of them is an Ayers. That means all the pears at Lowes no matter what tag it had was an Ayers that year. @clarkinks is correct though. To me they are OK with a lot more grit. I think plain Bartlett is better.

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Let me revise my above Ayers rating. Have to admit they took me off guard because their taste is different. After eating a lot more of them they grow on you though. Missing the classic acidic pear flavor, but has almost like a slight vanilla flavor. When it comes to production though I give them a ten. They are machines.

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I am ordering an AYRES Pear (developed at Univ of Tenn.) advertised as AYERS pear from Raintree nursery that looks like your fruit.
However, I see AYERS pear trees advertised at other nurseries that look differently (more bartlett shaped).
There is an Ayers pear from Kansas that is different from the Tenn. AYRES (Anjou x Garber cross) named after the former president of UT, Dr. Brown AYRES.
I am posting pictures of how they look. Are these Ayers pears the same or different variety??

ayres pear - raintree nursery

ayers-pear-fruit_1

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@wfwalton

Only the top one is ayers which is red blushing Bartlett. @39thparallel sells pears from my orchard I know what they are. Many pears are called multiple names some are slang but we don’t know that only experience teaches us that. Karl’s favorite is ewart and Bartlett is Williams and the list goes on and on. The name red blushing Bartlett comes from the tag when I bought them which was clearly mislabeled.
We can see why they called them that. They are juicy and delicious but can be off flavored at times or have some grit. They are considered the best pear In the south by many Here comes the 2016 apple and Pear harvest!


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Obviously the “Ayers” scions I received from washington a couple years back aren’t Ayers.
It made a pear between the shape of Bartlett and Bosc…and russeted but not like Bosc…considerably larger than either. A nice pear.

I’ve bought a new tree labeled “Ayers”…so maybe it will have the correct fruit.

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So the Red Blushing Bartlett listed on 39th Parallel Orchard is actually the Tenn. Ayres pear? Thanks for your help. I ordered some scions of the Red Blushing Bartlett so it is good to know that it actually a Tenn. Ayres.
Frank

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@wfwalton

It is ayers the tenn is a different pear. They are reportedly from the same breeding program which I documented here in 2017 Pear buds, blossoms, and fruit 2017 - #171 by clarkinks . Want to make sure Noone confuses Ayer and ayers as well Anyone growing the Ayer pear? Its not the same pear as Ayers

@BlueBerry

Hence where it’s confused with Bartlett. If there are very few on the tree and I mean 10 or less the pears can be bigger kind of like a Bartlett but rougher but very large. Here is an example note the 3 larger pears look less red. I think Bartlett is a stretch but they don’t look like ayers but they are. That is more rare to see those larger pears than you would think. Side by side you can see those look like a different type of pear but they are not. The shaded side of the pear won’t be red at all. One not shaded at all in full sun will be all red.

Here is another link showing ayers once again I thought was red blushing Bartlett which I’m still laughing about Here comes the 2018 apple & pear harvest!

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Ayers is heavy with blooms again

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So is mine, after several years of fighting fb.

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@rayrose

I’m glad to hear good fortune is smiling on you again this year. It’s a good pear in my opinion for those of us who like a sweet , melting, dripping pear! It’s one of the best for the south in the heart of fireblight country so here in Kansas we very seldom see strikes on these trees. In my opinion anyone with an ayers pear tree is very fortunate. By a twist of fate I accidentally grow to many not realizing at first I was a victim of mislabeled we called it red blushing Bartlett for years. It was sold to me by a big box as a red Bartlett many years ago but I can only smile as they did me a favor. Meanwhile I grafted ayers as I had heard it was a good pear. Imagine my surprise when I found out I owned it for years! Only through good record keeping did I discover what happened. Fortunately when I tagged things I took photos as well An untagged pear wound up being Ayers - Been wanting that variety

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