Maxine pear

It wasn’t till I joined this group that I found out there were others grafting to Callery. I have a firm Asian , a Turnbul giant and a Maxine on Callery rootstock.

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@poncirusguy

Yes many of us used them much longer than we said. Back in the days of gardenweb I told people I was grafting to callery but everyone still wanted to eradicate them. Any time I brought it up it did not go over the best.

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Clark, so true. The Maxine scion you gave to me (thanks)grows very well and I am very happy with the flavor and texture of the fruits. I know you use callery pear for root stock and have many years of success, good for you. I have not yet tried that. One of my Asian pear tree was bought from Miller and I believe itv was grafted on an European pear root stock. Another was seeding Asian pear. The dripping honey I bought from Gurney and I don’t know what root stock it was used at Gurney. The dripping honey gets least fireblight issue and the seedlings tree gets most fire blight , I must have copper sprayed every year.
I read your other threads that you said the callery pear is more fireblight resistance which is a great plus. If I come across callery seedlings I’d like to try to see how well it performs here. In general, the pears do well in my area.

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Chances are you can visit any side of the Interstate…(90?94?)
…and find callery seedling all over the place. :frowning:

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don’t forget I-75,I-71, I-40, i-70, I-77, I-79, I-64, I-65, I-80, I-94, i57, i55, i-etc, i-etc, and so on

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@poncirusguy

Now that you mentioned the I’s don’t forget the H’s! The way the system works Routes with odd numbers run north and south, while even numbered run east and west. " Corridor H is also part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) which was created by Congress in the Appalachian Development Act of 1965. It’s purpose is to create new economic opportunities in previously isolated areas and communities by connecting them to the broader interstate highway system ."


https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.cfm

Here is the problem the callery are beautiful but if not grafted and cared for properly they are an invasive in some areas and perhaps working on adapting to other areas Callery Pear: the Jekyll and Hyde Tree | BYGL
They make not just a great rootstock for Maxine but for any pear! You might like this thread How tough are callery as rootstocks? Why use them? . Don’t need to say it all again because it’s been said Surviving on a fruit farm - spending money doesnt work
This thread even discusses the callery growing along i-35 Callery pear as rootstock? - #27 by clarkinks

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Ummm…yeah, any roadside near places Bradford or Cleveland or Aristocrat pears are … expect to find callery seedlings. (I mentioned 90-94 because they run through Chicagoland.)

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We have some type of flowering pear trees planted along the street and some seedlings (not sure fromseeds or from roots) growing near the trees. I don’t know if they are callery pear trees or other type of pear trees. One of my friend has big flowering pear tree growin her yard with many suckers. My problem is I can’t tell a callery pear tree from a flowering pear tree

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Yes, all are from China or nearby parts of the globe.
Check your favorite search engine for more details.
Pyrus Calleryana…they are all that species. “Bradford” is simply a selected cultivar that has prettier appearance than some of the seedlings, and no thorniness. That’s all the difference, basically.

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@IL847

Flowering pear are the same thing. You can graft to any of them!

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Thank you Clark. This makes things a lot simple

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If you all need a good quality disease resistant pear Maxine is a good choice i highly recommend. I’m only growing one of these trees. It’s not the very best but it’s better than most.

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I have added Maxine to a couple Frankentrees.
Been 41 years since I had one in Tennessee…but I still remember the pear. My grafts, first one possibly might fruit this year. Ripe in August.

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@BlueBerry

Hope you get Maxine pears soon! Glad everyone seems to be noticing these pears again Maxine needs to be in everyone’s orchard.

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I’ve got it in the top of a multi-graft callery…but no fruit this year. You never see it for sale at a big box store.

My only pears this time, a few Bartlett, a few of supposedly Korean Giant, a handfull of Ayers and an unknown Asian that has fruit despite it being in the teens once after it began blooming…and then a 8" snow in March.

Does Maxine not keep very well? There must be some reason it’s not found in commerce.

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No on has heard of it so people want Bartlet instead. The store carries Bartlet.

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You can find it at Cumberland Valley and Vaughns.
It’s one of the best pears I grow, but it’s slow to fruit.

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Very slow for my Stark bros. tree. But my Maxine on Callery roots flowered in 2 years.

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My Maxine (or Starking Delicious) is 5 years old, about ten feet tall, but no blooms this year.

But, my 6 year old Moonglow pear looks like it has set some fruit for the first time…

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@poncirusguy

Maxine on callery flowers nicely in my experience just like you said. That’s not to say it doesn’t on other things like ohxf rootstocks but sometimes people think everything is slower on callery which is not true.