Help me find a pear I'd like to grow

Hi there,
I thought I didn’t like pears, that is until I tasted Abate Fetel. No tang, nor acidity detectable to my pallet. Just a lot of sweetness and flavor. I would love to find a hardy pear that carries a similar taste/flavour and, if possible, similar texture (smooth, creamy, no grit). Can anyone help me? Does that exist? I am in zone 4/5, but let’s say 5 (I’m guessing I’l have more choices that way…!).

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You might begin with Lincoln, Seckel, and Harrow Sweet… on OHF.87… and see what happens.

Lincoln blooms late. Available from White Oak Nursery in Pennsylvania.

Seckel is rugged and can sweeten up in a short season. Sweet when softens. Can be eaten right off the tree. Same with Harrow Sweet, a Canadian-bred pear.

Personally, Harvest Queen is my favorite pear, but it has a little bit of an acidulous twang, which you might not like, based on your description.

Good luck.

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Thank you Matt. I like “acidulous twang”, but that Abate Fetel… it was so delicious and had none! Have you tried Harrow Sweet? I was actually considering that one… But my problem is: very difficult to taste fruit varieties around here (or maybe it’s like that elsewhere too?). I just tried Harovin Sundown (marketed as Cold Snap) and although they were very good, they were a complete different fruit than Abate (very lemony and different aromas). I liked the texture and sweetness.[quote=“Matt_in_Maryland, post:2, topic:8354”]
Seckel is rugged
[/quote]

What does “rugged” mean?

Rugged = disease resistant and fairly cold hardy. Seckel is worth a try.

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Try Harvest Queen too. It is early ripening and is the most delicious pear.

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You might see if any of the little dessert pears such as White Doyenne and Dana’s Hovey are grown in your area.

I found Flemish Beauty to be quite good, reasonably grit-free when ripe, very sweet.

But a lot of these things can depend on the year, the sun, and so on.

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Thank you Marknmt, I am gonna look into these.

Robert Purvis who runs a small scale nursery and is a scionwood seller told me these were very good good pears for IL.
“For pears, I would suggest Ewart, Harrow Sweet, and Clara Frijs, especially Harrow Sweet which has fire blight resistance. Concorde is an excellent late pear, and so is Sierra.”

Hope that helps you.

Dax

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Jessica,
A really good pear on a really good year is hard to beat and not much measures up against them. I grow a small yellow pear which is an unknown variety that nothing else compares to. I think a lot of what makes that pear so good is my hot summers. Comice is the pear many are measured against but even Comice is nowhere close to the flavor of my two best pears on a good year. In the United States we are waiting to try Krazula which in taste tests in Canada rated 4.7 on a 5 scale Krazulya Pear Tree - Developed in Russia - Hardy zone 3a which is also hardy to zone 3a. I suspect that Abate fetel would have rated as a 5 on that 5 scale. White doyenne is zone 4 hardy and would have hit 5 on a 5 scale. Harrow sweet is a high quality pear but the peel has a slight bitterness to it as many pears do. My girlfriend peels all of her pears because many are better without the peel. The flesh of Harrow sweet is very good and bears very quickly.

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First in Line for Scion Wood! Haha With Clark’s knowledge of pears I trust this one is top notch.

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Speedster,
The first year that little yellow pear bore fruit it was disappointing. I thought I grew a walnut instead of a pear because the skin was thick and husky like walnut husk. I bit into my first one and immediately spit it out because it tasted like cork and tossed the pear over my shoulder. It took several years to produce quality fruit. I’m very fortunate I did not top work it because it was on my mind. I was so shocked when we tasted the fruit after the tree fully matured that I could not believe it was the same pear! This list has accurate pear descriptions for many of the ones mentioned Pear Cultivars. This is a picture of the little yellow pear I grow which is melting, sugary, and bursting with pear flavor that is absent in most pears.

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I don’t grow pears (yet) however which pear variety is it?

Dax

No one has been able to identify it yet. There are a few more pictures of it in this thread when I picked them this summer http://www.growingfruit.org/t/here-comes-the-2016-apple-and-pear-harvest/6762/11.

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That’s about what I assumed.

Dax

Not Shipova is it? They are round.

My understanding is Shipova do not have that rich pear flavor.

Clark, that pear thread was great. I’m overwhelmed.

I’m glad you shared that. Thank you.

Dax

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Thank you for all that info. I would love to taste your best pear on a really good year :wink: I’m sure it’s to die for! I am curious about Krazulya, but it seems to me folks here like acidic pears and I’m guessing this one might be acidic (might be wrong on that…). To my knowledge, Krazuya is a Ussuriensis hybrid. That leads me to think it might have a very different texture and taste than what I’m used to. Might be good, though… :slight_smile:

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Oh, I am second in line! Gosh, Clark, if you have an scionwood, I would be so very grateful, and happy to swap any pear scions I have with you, just let me know! What’s one more pear cultivar, when one already has squeezed in 20, lol!! I agree with Clark - nothing compares to a perfectly ripe pear. My very favorite fruit. Just ate my last pear - ‘Rescue’. It set one pear I missed, and happened to find it a few weeks ago. It was very, very good. Not in the Seckel category good, but still, very nice. What a delightful surprise!

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I have plenty of scions but the problem is some states are restrictive on sending them. States that are fruit producers like Oregon, California, and Washington as examples have strict laws that don’t allow any plant materials imported because of the risk to the countries food supply. If it’s a state like Kansas that does not grow much fruit and mostly wheat and soybeans restrictions are different. Kansas is more geared towards protecting the crops we raise the most of such as sorghum, wheat, beans, corn but still does not allow import of plant material from some places where a new threat is located. Kansas is starting to change to growing some fruits and some restrictions are changing. I may need to send some scions to the usda to get the variety out there and available to everyone. The yellow pear breaks down quickly and literally stores days or sometimes just a week or two depending when you pick it. The good pears such as clapps favorite have that tendency to break down from the inside out and change quickly. We can the little pears in nutmeg and cloves typically when they are ripe in pint jars and eat them throughout the winter. The pears are so delicious I started two more trees for myself. They are worthless to commercial growers of fruit because they can’t be stored. Pears such as drippin’ honey are wonderful comparatively because they store months and are very good flavored. There is a place for both types of pears for me. Korean Giant, Clapps favorite, Harrow sweet, Bartlett, duchess, Seckel, Potomac etc. as examples all have a use for me but each pear I’m growing for very different reasons. Duchess is a course very large pear as an example that is grown for its enormous fruit. The flavor of duchess is not bad but it’s not a drippin’ honey or like my small yellow pear. I like duchess in their season here but if they get to much rain they are blan. I eat duchess a couple of weeks very late in the season when they are fresh. There are so many better pears such as drippin’ honey or Korean Giant that store well that long term I will likely cut back to one or two trees of duchess. I will top work the old trees with one of the other excellent flavored pears. I might be able to send Bob Purvis or Singing Tree Nursery some scions of the yellow pear since they are approved to send scions to many other places. I will check with NAFEX members like Bob since I’m a member and see if there are any other ways to get them out there. Every orchard should have one of those little yellow pears! I have plenty of scions and want to get them in the hands of growingfruit orchàrdists.

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