I agree but this was the author’s experience
“Diseases: In a very rare case of my experience showing LESS fireblight than Hedrick suggests, my ‘Dana Hovey’ trees were remarkably free of blight. In more than 15 years and multiple trees and rootstocks, I only saw small blight strikes, which were easily controlled by pruning alone. Resistant to pear leafspot and pear blister mite.”
They admitted it was unexpected
No blight on either one. One year I started picking both on Aug 18 and had picked all of both by end of August. Another year Warren was ripe 3 days before Magness. Have not done a side by side taste test but can do so in next few days from pears in the fridge. My friends adore Magness, just don’t have enough Warren to share, it’s so stingy.
Harovin Sundown AKA Cold Snap®
This information is from the Cummings Nursery Website where I purchased my tree.
Cold Snap® is fireblight resistant and well suited to high-density planting. This pear is reliably annual and is pollen compatible with most other European pears; trials show poor pollination when paired with Bartlett.
Ripening three weeks after Bartlett, the fruit is large and roundish, with an attractive blush. At harvest, the flesh is firm, with a pleasing, snappy crunch. At full ripeness, the pear is buttery and juicy. Tasters describe a floral flavor with notes of lemon. Cold Snap® is best eaten after about eight weeks in cold storage. It will store well for up to six months.
Cold Snap® was originally bred as Harovin Sundown in the 1970’s by H. A. Quamme. This variety was acquired by the Vineland Innovation and Research Center, which began selling trees in 2015.
Popenoe Duchess
This is another pear that is very similar to Warren. It was named by Mr. Popenoe, a member of the Golden Gate Chapter of CRFG as it was an unknown tree planted in his yard. I asked him at one of our local scion exchanges many years ago what he thought it was. He said his brother thought it was Warren and I think his brother is correct. The tree is on the leeward side of the orchard so usually does not set very many fruit but they are often huge.
Lots of Harrow Sweet have been coming in. I pick the ones that pop off easily every few days. They’re all going in the fridge for a few weeks before counter softening.
There are fewer more visually scrumptious looking fruit OMG
I have one that snuck through my blossom trimming on young trees. Gonna let it ripen fully on tree since no pests have found it…
I had to spray them and my late ripening Asian pears with a spinosad/BT mixture because OFM started drilling into some of them as they started to ripen.
My latest harvest of Comice and Taylor’s Gold was two days ago on 9/24/2023.
Taylor’sGold
It is supposedly a bud sport of Comice found in New Zealand.
“Taylor’s Gold is distinct from Doyenne du Comice… in that ‘Taylor’s Gold’ is fully russeted, breaks leaf dormancy 7 to 10 days earlier, and the fruit is smaller. In other respects ‘Taylor’s Gold’ is similar to ‘Doyenne du Comice’. – From U.S. Plant Patent 8308.”
For me, it seems to ripen a little sooner and does not store as well. That said, this year it is beautiful - the best russet ever and it matured at exactly the same time as Comice.
Doyenne du Comice
From GRIN - Regarded by many as the standard of dessert quality among pears. Midseason. Doyenne du Comice is a temperamental variety which reaches perfection only under limited conditions of soil, climate, and location.
Comice is one of my oldest trees but never has a large crop. Fire blight has been easy to manage. After we have finished eating the Warren/Magness/Jana’s Pear triad, this is our favorite dessert pear. Pick when it will just release from the tree and put it into the refer for at least a few weeks. It will then ripen to perfection in a week or so.
Very few of my Comice have a significant blush. Here are a few:
Most look like this:
Many of the fruit will have these russet rings at the base:
I’m going out to pick Concord and maybe a few others.
I’m thinking you had the perfect New Zealand spring and summer this year.
We had a very cool June and no significant hot spells. If I remember, we hit 100 degrees once or twice but only for an hour or two before cooling off. There was a lot of fire blight in apples in the area but very little in pears. In general a nice growing season.
When I checked the two Concorde fruit on my young graft they did not seem to be ready.
I finally got around to climbing my 10 foot orchard ladder and using a 30 inch picker to get to the Duchesse pears. A few have been falling for the past 10 days.
Duchesse d’Angouleme
This is from the Trees of Antiquity website:
“The original pear tree Duchesse d’Angouleme was observed by M.Anne Pierre Andusson, growing in a farm garden in Anjou. Recognizing the qualities of this pear he procured several scion to graft. Later he sold the trees, in 1812, under the name of Poire des Eparannais. In 1820, he sent a basket of the fruit to the Duchesse d’ Angoulême, with a request to be permitted to name the pear in honor of her. The request was granted, and the pear has since borne its present name. Duchesse D’Angouleme pear is one of the largest of the pears we offer, can attain an enormous size. When well grown, the Duchesse D’Angouleme pears flesh is white, buttery and melting with a rich, delicious flavor. Some fireblight resistance. Bears early and regularly.”
Everyone states that it has some fire blight resistance. I have never had a strike in the 12 years that I have grown it.
Duchesse d’Angouleme Bronzee
Supposedly a bud sport of Duchesse d’Angouleme. Very nice coloration this year and very large size.
Mine has been a touch stingy as well. Comice is king IMO. I’ve got it and Rouge Red which is really good. Taylor Gold I was considering. Yours look appealing.
Comice is such a delicious pear. They look great.
Doyenne du Comice is my favorite pear so far. Mine was planted in 2021 and is flowering for the first time. My Josephine De Malines planted at the same time has double the growth.
Nice looking espalier Andy. I assume you live “down under”. I have Josephine grafted on my huge multigrafted tree and after it started bearing fruit, it became our favorite winter pear to start eating after the Comice are consumed. I have read that Josephine de Malines is grown as a winter pear in Australia. Is that true? Also, how is the fire blight sensitivity there?
My young Josephine tree is growing slowly but seems quite precocious.
Taylor Gold has not been a very heavy-bearing variety. For some reason - maybe the stars aligned - it fruited heavily this year for me and another good pear grower in the area.
Very nice espalier!
Did you let the cordons grow then bend them at the end of the season?
I’m surprised at the lack of vertical shoots as I only see fruiting spurs.
I’ll be starting a pear espalier next spring…
Thanks David. Yes I’m Down Under in Tasmania. Your correct the Josephine is the latest maturing pear where I purchased mine from (matures April-May which is late autumn/falI). I’ve been able to try some I bought and they were very tasty (it’s rare to find anything here except for Williams, Packham & Beurre Bosc). Luckily we don’t have any Fire blight in Australia touch wood.
Thanks Shibumi, where the cordons haven’t reached the end of the wire I’ve tip pruned them to encourage more lateral growth. Once they reach the end of the wire I will bend them down. You can see on the Josephine that even bending it down didn’t stop it, it just wants to keep growing. So I will wait and prune back into the old wood to stop it growing and finish off the tier. I have notched a bud for the second year trying to grow a new first tier on the left side. I did a tiny bit of vertical growth pruning on the Josephine but nothing on the Comice. As they say espaliering seems to really suit pears.
Thanks for the reply.
I was wondering why the cordons weren’t sending up vigorous vertical shoots and was thinking maybe you allowed them to grow unbent first then pulled them down. Perhaps your statement about pears being made for espalier answers it. Maybe they just don’t send out those shoots.
I’ll find out myself in the next 2 years.
I’m doing a Belgian fence with some plums and they are sending out a lot of growth besides the 45° training main laterals.
