I’m adding about 20-40 new pears in 2017. Some are risky to add due to their disease suseptibility, others I’m growing now and adding more of the same type. Some that I’m getting from ARS GRiN are not well known so I won’t mention those 25 or so varieties. The list below are the ones you may know. What pears are you adding for the first time or more of in 2017? Any of you having particularly good luck with one of your pears?
Atlantic Queen
Aurora
Concorde
Dana Hovey
Doyenne
Flemish Beauty
Luscious
Magness
Orcas
Paragon
Rescue
Superfin
Tyson
Worden
Abate fetel
Forrelle
As mentioned in previous threads disease pressure is high here but if I never try some of these I will always wonder what they were like. My better judgement tells me not to grow some of these pears but throwing caution to the wind in pursuit of the best pear is a temptation I cant refuse.
I have a few of those growing already (too young to produce) and got notification from GRIN that my order for this year is on the way.
I’m adding Paragon pear from Cummings. I don’t know much about it, but their description lured me in.
I’m adding Vavilov, Savignac, and Waterville this year. All from GRIN, all will be grafted to OHxF 97
Clark - do you grow Beierschmidt?
Glad to hear it Clark. The rest of us depend on your yielding to Pear Temptation after all.
I’ve requested the following from USDA Corvallis.
Elliot
Belle Lucrative
Docteur Desportes
I wish I could buy a whole separate big tree of Harvest Queen, but can only find bench grafts out there (Greenmantle).
I might buy a big tree of Seckel just to serve as a host for multi-budding the Corvallis sticks (if they arrive). My other trees are already loaded with multiple buds.
I’m going to get my very first pear tree in 2017. I’ve decided to go with a Harrow Sweet. Haven’t placed my order yet. Waiting till March because I’m going to this grafting workshop in March and they are supposed to have trees from Cummings nursery there for purchase. Just apples and pears.
Once I get my Harrow Sweet I’ll graft couple of varieties to it. Bartlett is a must. That’s the only pear my family knows from the grocery store, so I have to have that. I’ve done some reading on the subject and decided I’m going to add Bella de Giugno which is supposed to be an early variety. I’m still working on a list. Will add varieties down the road but in 2017 I’m going to get my first pear tree, Harrow Sweet!
Smsmith,
I am growing 5 or 6 Beierschmidt. They are very small pear trees at this point grafted on ohxf333
Docteur Desportes is a fast grower. It seems like an excellent pear so far but I’m making that assessment based on one year of growth.
I obtained these disease resistant pears (among others) to graft from ars grin What scions will you graft in 2017?. Hard to believe I would then turn around and grow abate fetel or forrell. I have a practical side when it comes to growing pears but I’ve had some sensitive varities e.g. Clapps favorite killed to the ground with fireblight. I try to grow my sensitive pears in an isolated location.
In my experience, Concorde is quite susceptible to FB. I had to cut my 3-year old espaliered tree down to about 6" above graft union when FB striked. That was also the first year it set fruits which was about four years ago. It bounced back after that. I remember pouring the IPA down the cut surface. Not sure if that helped but that was what I had available at the time.
It had not bloomed since. I am hoping to see some blooms this year. I find it hard to tell the difference between flower buds and vegetative buds on Euro pear. Hopefully I don’t have to chop the tree down again.
FB pressure is not high in my area. Another Euro pear that I have is Moonglow which is a grafted branch on my Asian pear. I have never had FB attack on this one when my Hosui was infected. Usually I am able to catch the infection at early stage. Maybe because they don’t spread as fast on the Asian pear??
Fireblight does not ever hit trees in my experience until they produce fruit. That first year of fruit you know what you have.
I wanted to get the Duchess d’Angeloume Bronzee but couldn’t find anywhere that sold it. Maybe next year!
I was about to oder Concorde. In your drier area, it still gets fire blight. What chance do I have in the humid east?
Clark, I think my comment came out wrong. What I mean to convey is that your enthusiasm for pears as well as your knowledge of varieties is doing much to boost their popularity among us on the list. I speak from personal experience. I always enjoy reading your comments.
Mamuang,
I don’t spray at all in my yard. Maybe that could be averted if I had used chemical control.
Z9,
Besides lime-sulfur at budbreak and Surround to protect fruit against stinkbugs, I don’t do anything else on pears.
@clarkinks, your enthusiasm about pears is contagious. I just ordered Gorham, Harrow 604, Superfin, Tyson and Winter Nelis from Singing Tree.
Will have some other varieties from generous forum members, too. With last year and this year, I probably have closer to 30 varieties. Pears galore!!!
@VSOP ,
Sorry for the late reply Duchess d’Angeloume Bronzee can be found here http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=201
Clark, Thanks so much for linking the variety at ToA! ToA’s description is actually what got me interested in that variety. Heirloom fruits really interest me but because I live in the disease-prone Deep South, I thought anything but the newer pears, bred for disease resistance, were off-limits to me. As I did more research, everything I read confirmed it might be a fantastic pear for my area. Unfortunately, ToA has it on quince rootstock, which I really don’t think will work here because of all the fireblight. Haven’t found anyplace that sells it on OHxF rootstock unfortunately. Probably next year, I will try to order it from the USDA and graft it myself if I cannot find it anywhere else.
Quince is ok if it’s grafted low in most cases as long as the top is resistant to fireblight. That would be an expensive tree to take a chance with so I understand your reluctance. I can tell you duchess is very resistant in my experience to fireblight though I’m not sure of the bronze type. I have a seedling Bartlett rootstock that is susceptible to everything including fireblight so I grafted Potomac to the rootstock. As long as I paint the trunk and get rid of suckers before fireblight seàson it will work great. As it ages and the trunk turns hard resistance to FB goes up because the green willowy growth FB loves is not present. When fireblight strikes it always hits new growth and that’s why when a tree blooms you can expect trouble. The rapid new growth when a tree blooms and tissue rapidly develops into pears is ideal conditions for fireblight. Fireblight needs 65 degrees or higher temperatures and last year my trees bloomed in much colder temperatures so the FB did not have a chance. I’m not sure your area will have enough chill hours for bronze. I live in a fireblight hotbed which has given me a lot of experience because through the years it’s taught me a great deal the hard way. The susceptible varieties I graft very high so most of the new growth was done by the rootstock that’s resistant and not the non resistant type of pear. Copper, vinegar, and antibiotics help but the right way to do it is grow resistant pears as your aware and as your practicing .