Maxine is the best one straight from the tree I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.
But, there probably is one better…
I’ve just not had the privilege.
I’ll find out in due time about any disease problems.
I’ve seen it in a backyard setting and no other varieties around, loaded in pears and no disease apparent.
Harvest Queen ripens third week in September, I guess? It’s not a problem for us. This is an area where I couldn’t get the Stark’s version of ‘Stanley’ to ripen.
I’m trying to graft it to BET this Spring. Probably too much the other direction. Probably more like OHF 97-87 for most people.
Harvest Queen isn’t particularly late-blooming here; its more like the blooms are just a bit more durable than average. If nothing else, that adds to the ornamental value.
Do you grow Mericourt?
I will plant it in the Spring but curious if you did grow it and it did not make the list. Also planting Beurre Alexander Lucas, a buttery, softer Anjou type with very good resistance
from Pears in the SouthEast…
https://www.chathamapples.com/PearsNY/PearsSEUS.html
Mericourt
Breeder(s): Crosses and selection done by Dr. J.A. McClintock. Released by Brooks D. Drain; University of Tennessee.
History: ‘Mericourt’ resulted from a ‘Seckel’ X ‘Late Faulkner’ cross and was tested as Tenn38S63.
Rootstocks used: OHxF#'s 333 & 513, P. calleryana seedling and Angers quince (Grootendorst Nurseries- avoid them!- insisted on sending ‘Mericourt’ scions grafted onto quince, even after I informed them that ‘Mericourt’ is incompatible with quince! These trees not-surprisingly failed to grow more than a few centimeters and then died.)
Orchards grown in: Cumming (Coal Mountain community), GA; Apex, NC; Pittsboro, NC orchards A & B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Excellent flavor and texture. Flavor is sweet and juicy, but with wonderful perfumed aroma. Texture is buttery and flesh and skin are smooth, with no noticeable grit cells. One doesn’t need to peel these pears, as the skin is not objectionable at all.
Fruit size: Medium. 138 median g/fruit in 2009; 176 g/fruit the following year.
Fruit appearance: Attractive bright smooth yellow, often with a red blush on the sunny side when fully ripe; no russet. Pyriform shape.
Culinary characteristics: We’ve never cooked them. They are too good for fresh-eating and fruit salads.
Storage characteristics: Keeps in common refrigerated storage for at least 4 weeks- they were eaten before we could keep any longer.
Harvest season: Mid-season; mid-August to early September in Pittsboro, NC. Just after and overlapping with ‘Ayres’ and roughly with ‘Spalding’.
Bloom season: In my experience, ***vs ‘Spalding’
Diseases: Very resistant to fireblight. Somewhat resistant to pear leaf spot.
Precocity: average precocity; first fruit set in *** year on *** rootstock.
Productivity: Low productivity could be the most-limiting characteristic for using ‘Mericourt’ in a commercial setting. Then again, it hasn’t really been looked at by professional horticultural scientists, who may be able to boost yields. It tends to bloom heavily, but then set only a few fruit. I have seen productive specimens on both OHxF 513 and calleryana rootstock, but I have not had a chance to understand why those trees were productive and other trees were shy bearers.
Bottom line: Recommended for both home and commercial growers. This tree may challenge the commercial growers, but the fact that some trees are quite productive suggests that this one barrier to profitability can be overcome. The fruit is attractive and delicious. People who try these pears want more. This may be the University of Tennessee pear breeding program’s crowning achievement. Growth habit: Pretty decent growth habit on both dwarfing and calleryana rootstock. Spreading and mostly wide crotch angles (for a pear).
I notice Magness did not make the cut. Can anyone tell me if Magness needs the fridge to ripen?
You meant Magness?
Other than the difference in disease resistance aren’t magness and warren nearly identical? I know they share the same parents and I’ve read some people say they are indistinguishable.
Magness does not do as well for me as warren. They taste identical there is no question about them being siblings. Warren produces heavier for me so far and faster. Many have said the opposite.
Interesting I guess it may come down to climate and soil conditions. Seems to be the norm with fruit trees. As far as seckle and comice which variety do you find more vigorous and easy to grow Clark?
Seckle is 20x easier to grow than comice in my climate. Out of the 7 comice i grafted i lost 4 to fireblight.
I’ve read ‘Warren’ is self fertile where ‘Magness’ is not, can’t vouch for it.
May I ask what rootstock you grow seckle on?
Have it growing on callery and ohxf333. It is a very small tree. On callery its only 15 feet and on ohxf333 it’s about 12 feet.
On a very vigorous rootstock, Seckle will get 25 feet tall. I’ve seen a Keiffer that was easily 60 feet tall. It was also about 60 or 70 years old.
In regards to speed in fruiting, that matches my experience so far. I grafted Warren and Magness in 2017, and got my first taste of Warren last year. As everyone else says, it is a wonderful taste and texture pear, probably my fav so far. Still waiting on Magness…
On callery, or ?
I top worked a Harrow Sweet on OHxF 97
My notes over the years on Warren and Magness are all over the map. What is clear to me Warren has better fireblight resistance than Magness but bears far less fruit here. But then:
“Both Warren and Magness have sterile pollen and cannot pollinate other pears” vs “Warren pollinates other pears.” Or “Warren does not set fruit” vs Warren is self-fertile or partially self-fertile."
Warren is: “…notorious for not attracting pollinators,” “is unattractive to bees.” I wonder if some bees are more industrious and thorough than others when it comes to visiting most of the blossoms and this explains Warren’s widely variable production.
Our brand new Warren from Trees of Antiquity on OHxF 333 is loaded with fruit sets. Our Hood Pear is upwind from it and there was bloom overlap plus plenty of European honeybees.
Clara frijs needs to come off my list as disease resistant. They had heavy fireblight damage last year. Maxine will replace it in on the list.