Noted. I’ll send in June, but first I’ll write.
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Literally don’t think I’ve given any Charles Harris wood out so it might not be out there yet. Wasn’t feeling well and so I didn’t cut scions for awhile. One gentleman I owed scions to I cut several for this year. @39thparallel comes here and cuts rare stuff at times when he needs it. Charles Harris is so rare people don’t even know it exists.
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I had it and a polar vortex took it. I couldn’t believe it because nothing else died that I recall. I’m sure of it because I have only one rootstock in place that I didn’t lop off this year. That’s where I’m putting on Docteur Deportes. I’ll add Charles Harris again when the rare day happens. I sold one and he lost his too. In Kansas he is. Clint.
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I got Honey Sweet in a trade this year. Supposed to be like a bigger Seckel. Anyone know if it’s any good. Does it need the fridge?
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It’s one of the (I know Comice is your favorite cause you wrote it) sugar-sweet, fine-grained, dripping, sweet, best of the best. Here’s a bloom time chart I made for some of the cultivars I grafted at one time:
I don’t know the best ripening. Or about Honeysweet flowering. I see the USDA Grin program did not send it, either. It’s a Comice type.
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Crimson Gem Comice. I couldn’t remember the name. I got the Regal Red from you, but I wish I had got the Gem as well. Anyone we know that bought it from you?
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Our apologies for hijacking the cleft graft thread it wasn’t intentional. Pear growers as you know are distracted by the mere mention of a pear. We can’t help but get off topic. Maybe we should make a pear grafting thread again.
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I made up my mind long ago that it is NOT just pear growers that go off topic. It is just about every person who posts on this forum. It is not a bad thing, lots of good information gets exposed that way.
Back on topic. I see a lot of discussion of using bark graft vs cleft graft. I don’t see much discussion of which species is appropriate for one vs the other and nothing about supporting the graft afterward. As examples, pecan roughly 2 inches diameter up to 4 inches diameter is outstanding for a bark graft. From 2 inches down to about 1 inch diameter, a cleft graft works better in my experience. Pear is a different situation with bark graft working well up to roughly 8 inches diameter and cleft graft best in 1 to 3 inch stock. With either pecan or pear, bark grafts should be supported with a tie-on stick or other means to keep them from being blown out by strong wind. I’m not seeing pictures above of anyone using a support stake. This bothers me as I am certain they are needed.
I grafted 5 callery pear trees to named varieties today using a mix of bark and cleft grafts along with one whip and tongue on a small tree. I usually get 100% takes with pear. The larger trees have 3 inlay bark grafts and the smaller trees have 2 cleft grafts. All are sealed with beeswax which I currently have an abundance of.
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I don’t remember having Crimson Gem, but apparently I did. That one doesn’t even bring up memories. I wonder if they didn’t send it and say they did.
Nope, I’ve never had it. They didn’t send it but it was noted that they would. I checked my files, it was never here or grafted.
Thanks for your reply. I’ve never cleft grafted anything 1" or greater. I’ve always bark grafted.
That’s two good brains to my one saying cleft works and you guys like using it. Alright, thanks a lot.
Crimson gem was out of stock when I ordered it in 2019. Everyone wants it! What Pears will you grow this year?
**PI 541535 - COR - Pyrus communis-doyenne du comice -crimson gem **
Crimson Gem Comice ( PI 541535).–Originated in Phoenix, Oregon, by Lyle Kinney. Introduced in 1977 by Sierra Gold Nurseries, Yuba City, California. US Plant Patent 4263. Bud mutation of Regal Red Comice. Discovered in 1965. Fruit: resembles Comice; skin thick, smooth, glossy, solid red throughout growing season, with little or no purplish tint and having slight yellowish undercolor when ripe; flesh white, fine, tender, juicy, sweet; ripens about 22 Sept. in southern Oregon; hangs well, keeping quality good to 15 January. Tree: spur-type, large, roundish. – Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties –
From U.S. Plant Patent 4263 (issued June 1978, Expired 1995): A new and distinct variety of pear tree, distinguished principally from its parent, the Regal Red Comice, by being a spur-type tree bearing fruit, having a substantially solid red color throughout the growing season, with little or no purplish tint and having very slight yellowish undercoat when ripe, having substantially thicker and tougher skin, and having a rounded shape more nearly similar to the standard Doyenne du Comice.
If you look up the patent it’s a slow grower which is why there is likely no wood available USPP4263P - Pear tree - Google Patents
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This is what @Robert bought from me. I didn’t keep it because I thought it was ‘novel’. Now I need to get some scionwood from ya. I’ll email.
Clark you think this Regal Red is as colorful as Rogue Red or Crimson Gem Comice’s?
Comice is my favorite pear. I’d like to be able to eat any Comice. I wasn’t thinking when I sold all those Regal Red.
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Ken Coates, a professional grafter in Washington, says you don’t try to line up the cambiums, but instead you do a shallow cross (X) to ensure your cambium touches. (His YouTube channel is All About Grafting). I’ve improved my cleft graft takes by using this method. That being said, I prefer bark grafting just like you !
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Naw, that’s fine - I’m still trying to absorb everything from before the pear discussion part anyhow. We can come back to the cleft any time.
I’m thinking I’ll use clefts on rootstock that’s up to maybe three diameters of the scion, and go with bark beyond that. @Barkslip gave some good tips (very long taper cuts on the scion, trim the edges of the scions). I can see using clefts on larger wood if you only graft on one side, letting the other side close up and using smallish scions. Cutting the scions way down could help. First thing I think is to really get your knife sharp. @Robert talked about making the cleft off-center, which I think could be helpful, and @DennisD showed a nice example with a waxed union. All very helpful and more than a little thought provoking.
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Really the arrowhead bark graft is what I would use still vs. a cleft any day of the week. All it is is a tapering to a point of a long & swooping carved bark graft scion.
I’m a bark grafter. I don’t like clefts unless I have pretty green wood near the tip of the scion that is very flexible. I resort to clefts then.
We all have our weird rhythms of life. I just halfway and I don’t know why - I despise cleft grafts. They’re always something I do when I cannot find a way to graft differently.
Here I am again opening a bandage like a fool online to get an earful.
Barkslip
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It’s mostly about the size of the example that determines which graft to use. Then like Clark said, there is a point in between that becomes choice. I think bark is better, but cleft is way easier.
I’m trying a few oddball graft ideas from youtube. The main one I’m interested in they just drill into the tree, then strip the bark from the scion to the matching depth. Looks easy. We will see how well it works.
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Yer just a glutton for punishment, my friend!
Seriously, thanks very much for the link to the excellent tutorial. Do you use the staples? I see that in his photos, but for some reason I don’t like the idea - I guess I think it would just crack the bark. But it looks like it solves the problem for him.
I can see why you don’t like clefts. They can be a pain to heal cleanly. But for the first few years I grafted I didn’t even know there was any other kind -it’s what I was shown and it’s what I did. So it goes.
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cleft is the only one forgiving enough for me to do. i shake alot. i just cant do whip n’ tongue. tried many times. never can get the angle right so i wind up chopping it off and doing a cleft instead. 
going to try some chip bud grafting this year.
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I think chip and regular budding are both reasonably forgiving. A tremor is going to get in the way, no doubt, but if you can do clefts then you’ll manage chips and buds pretty well too. I think with those you could steady the knife edge on the wood before you start cutting, and I hope that helps.
I also like to do simple whips using Alan’s method of cutting stock and scion both with the nippers. If you can get a long enough cut on them and have the tape already stuck to the stock they go pretty well.
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You don’t need staples. electrical tape is all I use.
chip budding is the grandest of all. It’s the fastest, easiest, the results are near 100%, and the vigor from the bud is at its max for the rootstock you got.
get a board @steveb4 , use your outdoor table to learn on a cutting board and then go do work in the yard doing chips. You do them once you feel summer is here. mid-June and then again in mid-August. You can start earlier too as long as you have true leaves but temperature helps around 70-75 F.
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