Was hoping someone can tell me what kind of pear this is. It’s in flower currently and i suspect it’s Golden spice. The tree has severly stunted a callery pear rootstock.
These are typical pear blossoms
If I’m fortunate enough to have my Golden Spice bloom in a couple weeks I should be able to compare. It did have a few blossoms last year, but I didn’t look closely at them.
Ive been working on this mystery for many many years and a couple of years more with it flowering. See this thread from last year Unknown Pear- unique flowers . So far im no closer to an answer. Whats worse is i have several of these trees all with unusual or eratic growth on callery. All have dwarfed callery which may be useful to someone as an interstem once i solve the mystery. This year may be different i got copper on them and there have been no late freezes. Fireblight destroyed what was left of the blooms last year after the frost finished the first blooms. The drought last year did not help those flowers to make fruit either. I suspect this is golden spice or another harbin cross. This pear and one other are the last of the group that had destroyed tags.
Im back to square one though golden spice blooms look somewhat like these i dont think they are close enough. Here is the link to what golden spice blooms look like. They are definately in the same family and ofcourse,weather etc. Make a little difference.
" BOTANICAL NAME: Pyrus ussuriensis ‘Golden Spice’
DESCRIPTION: Nice consistent oval canopy with glossy dark green leaves that turn an outstanding burgundy in fall. Showy white flowers in spring followed by golden yellow fruit. Good for canning. Better fruit production with cross pollination of another Pear variety.
AVERAGE HEIGHT: 6 Meters
AVERAGE SPREAD: 4.5 Meters
SUN EXPOSURE: Full sun
FLOWER COLOUR: White
FLOWERING TIME: Early spring
FOLIAGE COLOUR: Green
COLD HARDINESS: Zone 3 ( Should survive upto -39.9° Celcius )
WATER NEEDS: Average
OTHER FEATURES: Edible Fruit, Fall Colour
HEIGHT AT TIME OF SHIPPING: 7 gallon 5-7 feet, 10 gallon 6-8 feet. These sizes are approximate and may vary slightly year to year or even depending on the time of year. Height is that of the tree itself and does not include the height of the container."
I thought I would piggyback on this pre-existing thread about Golden Spice Pears, my apologies for the necrobump. My sister has purchased a Golden Spice pear tree and I have a few questions about this variety if any members are familiar with it. Is this variety any good as a fresh eating pear?
From what little I’ve read about it so far it sounds more like a canning pear than a quality fresh eating variety. On the bright side it should be highly fireblight resistant as a Pyrus ussuriensis x Pyrus communis cross. I don’t know the rootstock it is grafted on, but I suspect that it might be Pyrus ussuriensis. My sister intends to plant this tree on a back section of my property near where she has a trailer.
I don’t mind that it doesn’t have a dwarfing rootstock as this tree will likely only receive sporadic watering when my sister is not there to water it. Having a vigorous rootstock should be an aid in helping it survive without a regular watering schedule. It will be located near another pear tree that I do not want to spread fireblight to. The other tree I’m worried about is a century old Bartlett that I do not want to see infected by a new neighbour that is a fireblight magnet.
She didn’t consult me about this variety before she purchased it or I might have advised against it because of its reputed poor eating qualities. The price was right, so I guess it was still a good purchase, but I’d like to be able to add or change varieties on this tree she bought.
My question is, can good European pear varieties that are fireblight resistant such as the Harrow series pears be grafted onto this Golden Spice pyrus ussuriensis cross? Is there going to be grafting compatibility issues with Euro varieties?
I’ve grafted Dana’s Hovey, Bosc, Flemish Beauty, White Doyenne, Warden Seckel, Clark’s Little Yellow Pear, a Harrow, Pennsylvania Wonder, Ure (removed) and one or two others with no issues. I did remove a branch of something this spring because it looked blighty to me, but that branch was not GS. Some of these have been bearing for years, and some have been pretty shy, but they’ve all grown nicely.
The pear itself is pretty edible, but always firm, somewhat gritty. Fedco says it’s best as a perry source. I like them poached. It’s flavorful with spice notes, very enjoyable, in my mind, but no gourmet treat.
Thank you for that info. That was exactly what I was wanting to know. 
Looks like I’m also piggybacking on the thread to ask about grafting. I’m wondering if it’s possible to graft a scion of Golden Spice (Pyrus ussuriensis cross) onto Harrow’s Delight or Gem (Pyrus communis)?
I don’t see why not. Mine is grafted onto an Old Home x Farmingdale rootstock (don’t know which one) and I’ve grafted one of the Harrow crosses to that, as well as several others - Dana’s Hovey, Clark’s Little Yellow, Flemish Beauty, etc. They all took with no issues and several have born fruit.
I’ve grafted a few Euro pears to Golden Spice, Early Gold, and Ure which are all hybrids with no issues(yet anyway)
Golden Spice on harbin rootstocks is the way it is normally done. You can graft Golden Spice type pears to harrow delight or any ohxf rootstock. I grafted a harbin hybrid of some type to callery, which has stayed fairly dwarfed. That indicated to me either that is because harbin on callery is dwarfing or it is my climate. I repeated the experiment with the same results many times with pyrus ussuriensis aka harbin. This pear is associated with pear decline where psylla are a concern.
You might ask who wants it? The answer is simple which is anyone in a cold zone 3 climate wanting to grow pears
https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/ussurian-harbin-pear
We have said it all before but here is a quote you might like about zone 4 pears below.
"
zone 4 pears
BY AMY GRANT
LAST UPDATED AUGUST 11, 2022
While you may not be able to grow citrus trees in the cooler regions of the United States, there are a number of cold hardy fruit trees suited to USDA zone 4 and even zone 3. Pears are ideal fruit trees to grow in these zones and there are quite a few cold hardy pear tree varieties. Read on to find out about growing zone 4 pears.
Pear trees suited for zone 4 are those that can withstand winter temperatures between -20 and -30 degrees F. (-28 and -34 C.). Some pear trees are self-fertile, but the majority of them need a pollinating buddy nearby. Some are more compatible than others too, so it’s important to do some research regarding which to plant together if you want a good fruit set. Pear trees can also get quite large, up to 40 feet (12 m.) in height when mature. That combined with the need for two trees equals the need for some significant yard space. Until recently, cold hardy pear tree varieties tended to be more for canning and less for eating out of hand. Hardy pears are often small, tasteless, and rather mealy. One of the hardiest, John pear, is a good example. Although extremely hardy and the fruit is big and beautiful, they are unpalatable. Pears are fairly disease and insect free and are more easily grown organically for just this reason. A little patience may be in order, however, as pears can take up to 10 years before producing fruit.
Early Gold is a cultivar of pear that is hardy to zone 3. This early maturing tree produces glossy green/gold pears a little larger than Bartlett pears. The tree grows to around 20 feet (6 m.) in height with a spread of about 16 feet (5 m.) across. Early Gold is perfect for canning, preserving, and eating fresh. Early Gold does need another pear for pollination. Golden Spice is an example of a pear tree that grows in zone 4. The fruit is small, 1 ¾ inch (4.5 cm.) and is more suited to canning than eating out of hand. This cultivar grows to around 20 feet (6 m.) in height and is a good pollen source for Ure pears. Harvest takes place in late August. Gourmet is another pear tree that grows well in zone 4. This cultivar has medium sized fruit that is juicy, sweet, and crisp-- ideal for eating fresh. Gourmet pears are ready to harvest from mid to late September. Gourmet is not a suitable pollinator for other pear trees. Luscious is suited to zone 4 and has a flavor reminiscent of Bartlett pears. Luscious pears are also ready for harvest from mid to late September and, like Gourmet, Luscious is not a good pollen source for another pear. Parker pears are also similar in size and flavor to Bartlett pears. Parker may set fruit without a second cultivar, although the crop size will be somewhat diminished. A better bet for a good fruit set is to plant another suitable pear nearby. Patten is also suited to zone 4 with large fruit, delicious eaten fresh. It is slightly hardier than Parker pear and may also produce some fruit without a second cultivar. Summercrisp is a medium sized pear with a red blush to the skin. The fruit is crisp with a mild flavor very much like an Asian pear. Harvest Summercrisp in mid-August. Ure is a smaller cultivar that produces small fruit reminiscent of Bartlett pears. Ure partners nicely with Golden Spice for pollination and is ready for harvest in mid-August.
Writer
Amy Grant has been gardening for 30 years and writing for 15. A professional chef and caterer, Amy’s area of expertise is culinary gardening."
There is much more info if you want or need it just search for it with the website search tool.
