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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I prefer growing Warren over magness but the pollination is complicated. Notice in the article it says “Breeders working for the USDA in the mid-20th century crossed the Giant Seckel and the Comice and in 1960 released Magness, which was blight-resistant and unequaled in flavor. It was fairly widely planted at first, but it soon proved to be an erratic producer and mostly disappeared from cultivation in subsequent decades.” which we both know is true. Warren will produce more pears than magness. It also has greater resistance to fireblight. Magness is a great pear and i have several but i have a row of warren now.
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What those eastern growers never seemed to discover is that wind pollination is necessary. Since Magness is pollen sterile the bees and other pollinators do not visit the trees. The Frog Hollow grower worked that out and I think uses blowers to pollinate his Magness and Warren trees. I’m not sure what he is able to charge for his Warrens and Magness but I have heard in excess of $6.00/lb. Since my Magness is now surrounded by good pear trees, it has good crops. Warren, on the other hand, has only trees on the right and left so not as much, and only one year did it have a crop better than Magness has had in the past several years. I picked another huge box of Magness today. All that said, I agree, it is not as healthy as Warren.
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Thanks for your post on Warren.
Since I will only have a few trees I may shy away from Warren unless it’s a graft on multi tree.
Also I need to think about my choices as several of these lower chill fire blight resistant varieties share parentage… I don’t want a tree with 3 similar fruits if I can chose a tree with three distinctively different fruits, be it taste, harvest time, fresh or storage ripened, even color and shape (for fun), etc.
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I also thank you … I acquired a Warren earlier this year and have kept it in a 20 gal pot for planting next year. So it seems I should plant it downwind – not upwind of my pollen-bearing Hood.
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have you seen this specifically for the SouthEast?
https://www.chathamapples.com/PearsNY/PearsSEUS.html
Recommended pears include: Ayers, Green Jade, Dana Hovey, Maxine, Mericourt, Potomac, & Warren
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No I didn’t.
Thanks much 
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Magness here outproduces Warren 4 or 5 to 1. Not really a problem for me as I’m not looking for production, just a few gems to eat. I still have plenty of pears to give away- it’s about the only way to meet my neighbors in this neighborhood with no sidewalks or front porches.
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From my experience here in CA, Dana Hovey is not fire blight resistant. I lost an entire tree to the ground in 2015 though a graft on another tree has survived through 3 bad blight years. I grew all of the others except Green Jade in northern MS with no blight.
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hambone, Have you found a difference in ripening time? Can you tell the difference in taste or other characteristics? Any fireblight in either?
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