That’s a good thought, but the grass is definitely not greener, in fact it’s barely there. My neighbor has mentioned many times how much he despises the upkeep and watering of grass in Colorado. If he had more time on his hands I think I’d be able to convert him over to our side and get him to replace the whole backyard with a low-maintenance orchard…
Lol. It was worth a shot.
I wish we had more seasons like this! First real fruit at this property (5th year). I am pretty sure these are bartletts, and while the tree gets some fireblight (Bartlett is supposed to be susceptible), it’s not very bad (other than the year of massive hail). Now that I know the tree produces good fruit, I have to start thinking of ways to protect it during cold snaps so I have more years with pears!
Since I could not find this information previously… I harvested these (likey bartletts) on two dates:
Sept 9th and Sept 18th. The ones on the 18th are definitely harvested at a good time. I’ll report back on the 9th once I get to ripening those.
And my wife wanted to cut down the ugly pear tree!
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Looks great! It was a very good pear year. It’s possible they are a Keifer too. They look pretty similar and Keifer seems shrug off FB pretty well. I have a tree in my yard that was a very similar scenario to yours. I left both trunks, I don’t think the angle was quite as bad but it’s not great either. One was the original scion(probably Keifer could be Bartlett) and the other was a dominant branch from the rootstock. I have been multi-grafting the Callery side over the last few years. Just got my first Asian pears off of it this fall. I hope the tree never splits, it looks good presently. My pears are still hanging, but we’ll pick them soon so they can ripen inside.
You’re right - it could be something else, though taste/texture seems similar to Bartlett to me, but I’ve never had Kieffer!
On the concerns about the tree splitting… I believe it is common practice to cable larger evergreen trees together, where there is a multi-leader scenario. I think they may use a lag screw and allow overgrowth, versus wrapping around the trunk but am not very clear. The strategy might be usable with a fruit tree that has concerns of splitting.
When does Keifer ripen, relative to Bartlett… and those are the pears you still have on the tree?
I ordered a Harrow Sweet for 2022, but am now wondering, coming 3-4 weeks later than Bartlett (which would put them (based on assuming mine are Bartlett), 2nd week October. I’m concerned that may be too late some years.
Here is a link to pear ripening order, but unfortunately Kieffer doesn’t make the list. I have read somewhere on here that Kieffer is a late ripening pear though(after Bartlett), which fits the bill for mine. We usually harvest it sometime in October. Right now they are starting to sweeten and getting a bit of yellow, but there are starchy flavors yet and still hard. So probably about right for harvest. I’ve cut the water in that area and would like to let them go for a bit longer if I can. I probably should have cut the water a week ago though.
You do have some pretty handsome pears, the shapes of mine are all over the place. Some are squatty like Comice some look like Bartlett others fit the Kieffer profile, but they all taste the same and ripen the same so that side of the tree is homogenous.
I plan on adding Harrow Sweet to the grafting side of my tree as well, I don’t think it will be too late. Also want to try Clapp’s Favorite again. I grafted Clapp’s last summer but it was a little too late, the scion took but didn’t grow enough to make it through winter and spring. I tried to get some scion of Clark’s Yellow also but didn’t have any luck, so…if you get some and have extra left-over let me know, I’ll take it. The last one I plan on grafting in there is Abbe Fatale, just an experiment really but I really enjoy that variety and if it can make it and give me some pears that would be super.
As far as the tree splitting, I have thought about using cable or putting all thread through it with plates on each side. I think I just setteled on keeping that side of the tree about as-is with pruning. If the load doesn’t get much bigger than it has already dealt with it should be alright. And if in the future if the trunk looks like it want’s to split itself like Callary can do, maybe I will will just take some cuttings off the Keiffer side and prune that one off and regraft to some branches. It will certainely grow some new branches to fill the space and then I can graft again. Hopefully it just doesn’t split as a surprise.
Thanks for the link. It’s interesting that on that page he shows Bartlett end of September (I’ve heard much earlier elsewhere). I have not yet been able to get any confirmation from anyone in the front range as to bartlett timing here (given everything else is based on it).
The Clark’s Small Yellow Pear is said to be a good companion to the Harrow Sweet, from a pollination perspective, which is why I am after it. If I get some and have extra (or can grow it for sharing), I will be sure to let you know. I feel like the Harrow Sweet on OHxF86 has good potential here, provided it does not ripen too late, which is why I ordered two (going to try one in a pot, and one in ground as a base grafting tree… BTW, if anyone wants in on one of those or anything from ACN and we get two more, the $50 shipping goes for free).
I am also wanting to try that Drippin’ Honey asian pear, if I can get my hands on it this year. Still undecided if that is a ‘try in pot only’, or go for in-ground. It sounds awesome. Also… plan to graft Collette.
How reliable have your Kieffer pears been, and when do they typically bloom?
Sounds great, I wish you luck on obtaining Clark’s yellow!
I have Drippin’ Honey grafted on my multi-graft tree. It ripened it’s first and only pear this year mid September. If you don’t get around to getting it I can get you some scion next winter for sure, I need to let the branch grow more before trimming. But, if I see any side branches I need to trim out this winter I’ll let you know. I also have a small seperate tree of Collette. It was started as a bench graft and grew inches a year for the first few years, this year it finally put on some substantial growth and is around waist high. I’ll check it but I think it is probably in the same boat as the Drippin’ Honey graft, next winter.
My Kieffer blooms every year about mid May. But it didn’t really come into solid fruition until about 4 years ago. I’m guessing it was 8-10 years old when we bought our house 6 years ago. After the first year I gave it an overdue pruning and the following year it bloomed but froze out, the next year it bloomed like gang busters and we got our first big harvest. I have had one other year that it froze out since.
That’s awesome… you seem to be test driving a lot of stuff I want to grow! I’m hoping I can get a Drippin’ Honey tree this year, and if not, that would be awesome in a year or two.
Mid-may bloom on Kieffer feels pretty late, which is great to know. It sounds like it has been pretty reliable for you, which makes sense at that bloom time.
Anyone in the front Range growing any citrus with any success - in-ground or in-container?
I have two potted lime trees. They come in for the winter and sit by a south-facing window. They are more of a novelty since limes are fairly cheap in the grocery store. The big downside of having them inside during the winter is the mess the flowers and developing fruit create. Also, the flowers are VERY fragrant which not everyone is a fan of, especially those with allergies.
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I’ve had a few different Meyer lemon trees in the past. Growing them however would be not the correct term. More like a slow very prolonged death until eventually they get scale so bad I just leave them out to let old man winter put them down permanently. I will try another some year.
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Been growing various citrus in pots here at 8300’ for 10+ years now. Started with Meyers Lemons and added what is supposed to be a Key lime (but I think it may just be root stock), and more recently a couple of Satsuma Tangerines.
These days I generally keep all the citrus inside (big ones in the GH, smaller ones by a window). I’ve tried outside during the summer but it was a mixed bag. My location is very windy, so the trees kept blowing over, and it seems the sun at my elevation is a bit too strong for citrus. They actually did quite a bit better on our covered porch some years back, when they were smaller, where they did not get as much direct sun.
Meyers lemons generally produce well, and have not had much trouble with them, other than white flies in the GH and some mold issues during the really cold times in the winter when the GH is very humid. The tangerines are pretty new, just starting to ripen their first crop, so can’t comment too much on them.
But if you have some space for them inside, give them a try. I’ve had good luck with them and not much trouble.
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@FarmGirl-Z6A is looking for a cousin to the blueberry some of you may be familiar with or even grow called Whortleberry or billberry but you may know it by a host of other names. Take a look at this thread Where to buy Bilberry plants in U.S.? - #11 by clarkinks @DavesMead started this thread looking for these, the scientific name is Vaccinium Myrtillus. It grows in Colorado very commonly.
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I chip grafted in early August this year and had 14 out of 14 take. This was peach and apricot.
Anyone have any idea cultivar this peach and plum maybe? The peach harvest mid to late August with first or second week in April bloom. The flesh is soft and juicy when ripe with very little fuzz. The plum harvested 2nd week in September very firm crunchy flesh but sweet delicious flavor. The bloom tends to be early around the 3rd week or so of March. The tree is heavily leafed.
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When you upload your pictures you have to patiently wait for your upload to hit 100% or your pictures will look like that not fully uploaded. You can edit and delete those and re add them.
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Thank you!
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What are the growing conditions on the Colorado front range that are the same/different from the Wasatch front along the Salt Lake City I-15 corridor?
Wondering about applying or not some of what I’m reading on this thread…