I’m curious to know what apricots have worked for you. It sounds like we may have a similar climate.
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Sounds like Eden!
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Jana’s Pear
Jana’s Pear is a tree resulting from a mislabeled Moonglow scion I grafted in 2000. It was to be the pollinating variety for my Magness tree. After a few years of no fruit I thought, this is not Moonglow, it doesn’t take this long to bear fruit. After 7 years it did start fruiting and this is the result. I think it is Warren. My wife, Jana is not sure but as it is her favorite of my many varieties I call it Jana’s Pear. I have had several side-by-side tastings with it, Magness and Warren. We are still not sure. The fruit were quite large due to a light crop on this tree. I think it is because it is on the eastern border of the orchard and does not get as much wind pollination as my Magness or Warren trees. It always has more fruit on the windward side.
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No apricots have done well. But I do have a Derby Royal tree that is over 20 years old and has an occasional crop. The only other variety that survived for long was a Tomcot. It lived 10 or 12 years and had a decent crop three times before dying.
In retrospect, some of my issues may have been due to rootstock incompatibilities. The two longest-lived trees were both grafted onto Monclar peach and the others were probably grafted onto myrobalan seedling. Maybe I should be using Marianna 2624.
Let’s get back to pears!
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I think your right it is warren or a sport of it maybe. Here are some photos i took in 2022. The only pears stolen last year by animals out of all my pears were warren pears. Karls favorite are also excellent tasting and grow on the same tree. The thieving animals walked past dozens of pears from any direction to get there but only came for those pears. This year i put in a row of them and a small row of Karls favorite which are a great pollinator for them. This year i picked them all myself except for some i lost to yellow jackets. Again the only tree yellow jackets came to was that one. I found potomac and Karls favorite exceptional this year. Warren was very good but not at its best. Like wine every pear has its off years. I dont mind if animals steal whatever they want i planted enough for them. It is not really stealing since i’m letting them take what they want. Mostly the animals just eat windfalls.
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Warren
I picked Warren this morning 9/19/2023. It, along with Magness and Jana’s Pear, are the family favorites. It has become a very popular pear here in North California. It commands top prices at the local farmer’s markets as well as by mail order from a grower in the East Bay area.
Here is a link to something I posted a while back. There are other threads if you are interested.
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I am eating my Magness now after harvesting at just getting the slightest hint of yellow in the green, a week or two in the fridge and several days on the counter. They are all I can ever ask for in a European pear, pure perfection!
At some point someone told me Magness was a bit better than Warren so I never planted a Warren, but given all the praise here I wished I had tried it. So many pears so little time…
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Magness is supposed to be a knock off Comice. Do you taste any comice in it? I’ve got it, but it’s not a quick producer.
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Scott, There is so little difference that I don’t think you are missing anything. Some years one seems to bear more heavily than the other. For the past two years, Magness has been the better one but three years ago Warren was the winner. As I have mentioned, Warren seems to be a little healthier tree.
I have yet another tree that may be Warren. I’m picking it tomorrow and will post pictures.
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Unfortunately, I have never tasted them at their prime side by side. By the time Comice is perfect, Warren is starting to be a little long in the tooth. But, to me and the family, they are both outstanding pears.
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I’m of the opinion Karl’s favorite, aka ewart, is greatly undervalued. I would not grow warren without it very close by as a pollinator. It makes a big difference. Karls favorite is a delicious pear that is very heavy bearing. If you dont grow it, add it to your list! The warren parent tree i have is half grafted to karls favorite. Warren and Magness can be stingy producers, but quality seldom comes in quantity.
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I’ve never grown Ewart but I have a great chance if you can share a scion. The tree next to my Warren WAS an Orcas. Several years ago - probably in 2015 - it fireblighted back to the rootstock (OHxF 513) which regrew vigorously. I regrafted it fairly high up and it had more blight last year which I thought I had controlled. It had a fair crop this year then blight started again. The only pear with any! I’m tired of this tree - it is no longer. But I have a very nice sprout remaining. An excellemt place for an Ewart.
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I just looked at the Karl’s Favorite thread. I’m anxious to try it. I still have time to do some chip buds but let’s wait until dormant season for wood. I’ll remind you.
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I would (wood😉) as well as it has been mentioned to be a good pollinator for Warren, which I will graft next year.
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Anyone picked Shen Li in Northeast zone 6/7?
How about Korean Giant?
I get both. Still have not picked yet.
I just went to the beginning of Clark’s thread Is It Worth Growing Warren Pear and reread the article written by “Fruit Detective” David Karp - link below. It may be good for some of you to read it for more background about Warren Pear. This is the most accurate account of this pear I have come across.
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This kind of analysis is David’s forte.
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Absolutely!
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Shenandoah
This is another release from the USDA fire blight breeding program at Kearneysville, West Virginia from a cross of ‘Max Red Bartlett’ x US 56112-146. Released in 2004. For me, It has had a lot of blossom blight but no significant loss of 1 year wood. It should store for up to 4 months without core breakdown. I’m still evaluating it.
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