I’m working on making sure Leona is available very soon. Gave away some scions today. This is a good pear. I experimented with it 10 years to make sure they consistently produce in Kansas zone 6. This is very good information for everyone else. Like farmingdale it has never had fireblight.
1 Like
Larry Stephenson has Leona and sells trees. I don’t know if he would sell scions, but maybe worth giving him a call.
Larry Stephenson
2918 Bett Road
Coldwater, MS 38618
662-515-4112
Larry recommends these pear varieties specifically for gulf coast climates. He also has an extensive list of apples that do well in the deep south.
Perdue from Louisiana, European, green, medium size
Pineapple blooms early, produces good crops, lots of mixed up scionwood
Olton Broussard from New Iberia, Asian hybrid, very large, pick ripe,
Hartwell Cook from Jackson, unique, Asian, probably a named Asian variety
Sweet Cheeks unknown Asian, bought as a European, is an Asian, makes good pears
Southern Bartlett from New Iberia, Travis Callahan discovered
Leona - old tree in Duck Hill MS, not 100% ID as Leona but fruit matches
3 Likes
Got a stick of Leona from Larry last year, grafted on OHXF97, vigorous grower so far.
2 Likes
I just saw Larry’s videos this morning actually. He provides very good information and feedback on the videos I watched. This is the first time I had ever heard of him. I sent him an email, or so I think- it used a weird site to send it .I never heard of before, so we will see. I was wondering if he ships out actual trees (according to his info from 2021) or just does scions. He does mention Leona pear in the one video. Sounds like he has kicked up planting a lot more trees in the last few years.
1 Like
I have larrystephenson60@att.net
2 Likes
Dr. Ethan Natelson is responsible for preserving many southern pears. He sends them to corvalis. As @mayhaw9999 has said, when it comes to southern pears, there is no one more of an expert than the Dr. I did the testing to see if many of these can be grown in colder climates and determined they could be consistently.
2 Likes
I bought a Leona pear whip from Larry last November . I had his email address but can’t seem to find it now. I do not do Facebook but I think that is the best way to contact him. It is Southern cultured orchards and Nursery 2 Coldwater, Mississippi
2 Likes
Thank you for this email address. I will use that one to reach out to him. TY again.
1 Like
I just found this thread about Leona pear. Someone sent me scion of what was supposed to be Leona pear. To be honest, I think they mixed it up with Baldwin scion because I could never tell the fruit from that produced by my Baldwin. If it was truly Leona, then yes, it’s a very good simi soft pear, because Baldwin is a very good semi soft pear.
I got hit with fireblight so hard with fire blight that I haven’t followed pear much over the last two years. This year will be my first year in a long time actually having a good crop.
At the moment my two favorites are Southern King and Tennosui. Thanks.
3 Likes
I’ve got some Leona scion if you’d like to graft for comparison. I originally got it from Larry Stephenson last year. Just let me know.
1 Like
Thanks for the offer. I don’t need more pear trees. While it is one of my favorite fruit, I can’t come close to eating the fruit on the trees I have, and I find them hard to sell. The space is better used by plums which are much easier to sell and faster to produce. Thank you.
3 Likes
This year i put some Leona scions in the hands of @39thparallel . This pear will soon be as common as bartlett i hope.
1 Like
What is your source for Leona, Clark? Is it from Corvallis?
2 Likes
Yes it came from Corvallis which came from Dr. Natelson donation. It is 100% the real thing grown to fruit and confirmed to be true to type.
1 Like
What a great pear! Why isn’t everyone growing them in the South? They do great here in the midwest. I’m the only one who had enough time and enough land to experiment and grow these this far north. Now that i proved they can be grown in Kansas, i have seen many nurseries start growing this variety. 9 years ago not many people had heard these existed let alone grew them. Many said i would never fruit them and others said they would get caught by frosts every year. It has been producing fruit many years now and i never had a bit of problems.
2 Likes
I grafted several Leona to BET last year. How long did it take yours to fruit?
1 Like
They took around 5 years i think. I was told they would take a really long time to produce pears. They have been an easy pear for me to grow.
1 Like
Really glad to hear it. I planted a whip last november I have not been overly impressed in the growth probably due to my lack of abilities, growing trees. Hoping for better this year. But honestly, I have to admit the fact that I’ve never been able to grow bare roots or whips. That’s just the way it is.
1 Like