Here we go again. If you didn’t follow the Pear Harvest 2023 thread please read the introduction here:
This year I have about 15 varieties that either did not bear fruit last year or I was unable to post pictures and information about them. So, my plan is to only photograph those that I didn’t last year and link to last year’s thread for the varieties photographed and described as they are picked.
The first pear of 2024 is Citron de Carmes or Madeleine
Here is a description from long ago that is perfect.
Madeleine, or Citron des Carmes. The Madeleine is one of the most refreshing and excellent of the early pears; indeed, as yet, much the best at the time of its ripening - before the Bloodgood. It takes its name from its being in perfection, in France, at the feast of St. Madeleine. Citron des Carmes comes from its being first cultivated by the Carmelite monks. It is much the finest early French variety and deserves a place in all collections. The tree is fruitful and vigorous, with long erect olive-coloured branches. Fruit of medium size, obovate, but tapering gradually to the stalk. Stalk long and slender, often nearly two inches, set on the side of a small swelling. Skin smooth, pale yellowish-green, (very rarely, with a little brownish blush and russet specks around the stalk.) Calyx small, in a very shallow, furrowed basin. Flesh white, juicy, melting, with a sweet and delicate flavour, slightly perfumed. Middle and last of July. – A.J. Downing, The fruits and fruit trees of America, 1846.
As I mentioned in my introduction last year, I try to grow a wide variety of fruit so we have something from the orchard 12 months of the year. We made this year. I had winter pears that lasted until the first berries were ripe. We picked the last sweet cherries yesterday along with blueberries and blackberries. Loquats are almost gone and early Japanese plums are ripe. Here are a few pictures.
Thats a very early pear. For me all the early ones were rotting in the heat and so I now only grow later ones.
For my pears this year I should finally get a good harvest on my Josephine des Madelines, 20 years after I planted it! Of course this is with not enough light, several years of bad pruning and crowding out etc. Only Grand Champion is not reliably fruiting yet in my 20-year-old pear stand but it does have a couple this year. Urbaniste is also not a reliable fruiter, it bloomed like crazy but most dropped. Maybe it has pollination issues. I still should get an OK crop this year. It and Dana Hovey are my top two pears for taste so I hope it eventually gets in a good groove.
Urbaniste has been a failure for me. My original tree on calleryana took 11 years to set its first fruit and two years later died to the ground due to fire blight. A few years later I grafted it onto a multigrafted tree because another grower in the area told me it was his favorite. It did fruit within a few years but had Pseudomonas blossom blight. It’s the only pear I have ever seen that happen to. That entire tree developed problems and had to be removed. I guess I should try it again. Here is a photo from the 2015 fire blight infection that did go to the ground. I misspelled the name.
I don’t have Grand Champion but I do have Gorham. I lost most of the tree in our 2022 fireblight epidemic but had fruit on the remainder of the tree last year. It was liked a lot by many people at a CRFG tasting. Unfortunately, no fruit this year.
Dana Hovey has an excellent crop on 3 different grafts. It is a super pear and a family favorite.
Espargne (Jargonelle - English) A couple of weeks ago I picked Espargne. It came off the tree easily but was not ripe. It is a very early pear that needs to be eaten immediately - I jumped the gun.
From GRIN:
Skin greenish-yellow, smooth, with a little brownish colour on the sunny side. Stalk nearly two inches long, rather slender, curved, obliquely set. Calyx open, with quite long projecting segments, and sunk in a small and furrowed basin. The flesh is yellowish-white, rather coarse grained, juicy, with a sprightly, refreshing flavour. The tree is a strong grower, with a rather straggling, pendant habit. Ripens the last of July and the first of August. A.J. Downing The fruits and fruit trees of America, 1846.
Last year I waited too long to pick Starkrimson (Kalle) and it was over-ripe. Today it came off the tree easily and should ripen on the counter in a week. I forgot to include my ruler in the photos. Stem 32mm, fruit 64mm without stem, diameter 54mm.
Starkrimson (Kalle) Originated in South Haven, Michigan, by Adrian G. Kalle. Introduced in 1956 by Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards Co. Bud mutation of Clapp Favorite; discovered in 1939. Fruit: skin color solid red, otherwise resembles Clapp Favorite; ripens about 26 Aug. Tree: identical to parent variety. – Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties. edited
Yesterday, Aurora began to fall. These were picked today. They fell in my hand when I touched them. I only have one limb grafted to this variety and this is my first year to have enough fruit for a good evaluation. The narrative below states it matures with Bartlett. Bartlett is not ready to pick here. I think another 2 or 3 weeks until it can be picked. I’ll try to remember to post when it is ready to eat by leaving a couple on the counter to ripen.
Size: Stem 22mm, height 62mm. diameter 62mm
Developed in Geneva, NY. Introduced in 1964. Fruit: large; pyriform; skin bright yellow, slightly russeted, sometimes blushed, very attractive; flesh melting, smooth, juicy, sweet, aromatic, high quality for dessert purposes. Will store until December.
Matures about the same time as Bartlett with similar fire blight resistance.
Very likely. My graft is from a Starkrimson tree so it is the real Kalle. Do a Google search for Red Clapps. The four nurseries that come up for me are One Green World (says Originally from Massachusetts, and discovered in the 1800’s this pear has been a favorite for centuries.)
Trees of Antiquity (says discovered in the 1950s as a “sport” which produced a branch of red pears on a green Clapp’s Favorite pear tree in a Missouri orchard)
Raintree Nursery (says Also called ‘Red Kalle’. This large pear from Michigan)
Cummings Nursery is the most correct (says Also known as Red Clapp’s, Red Kalle, Starkrimson™ .)
Don’t believe everything you read in nursery catalogs!
"Kalle is a red sport of Clapp Favorite and behaves much like its parent. The tree is large, upright-spreading, very productive, and it is a reliable pollenizer with no incompatibility issues. It is resistant to rust, susceptible to fireblight, and very susceptible to scab. It performs well in a wide range of growing conditions, particularly the Pacific Northwest.
The fruit is a dramatic, deep red pear that ripens about ten days before Bartlett. It is an attractive landscape feature and would make a stunning espalier. The fruit quality at harvest is outstanding, with sweet, melting flesh. Unfortunately Kalle does not ship or store well.
This sport was discovered by Adrian G. Kalle of South Haven Michigan. It was introduced by Stark Bros. Nursery in 1970 under the trademarked name Starkrimson."
Starks is in Missouri which is where that story came from about it being from Missouri.
"History
Red Clapp’s Favorite is a good example of a “sport”, a natural genetic mutation. The original Clapp’s Favorite was raised by Thaddeus Clapp of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1850s, possibly a cross between Bartlett and Flemish Beauty. It is essentially a green pear but with a tendency to show some red flush. In the 1930s Adrian Kalle, a grower in Van Buren County, Michigan, noticed that one of the branches of a Clapp’s Favorite tree growing in his orchard had pears that were a solid dark red color - quite different from the normal red-flushed green pears on the other branches. This new form was patented in 1952 and taken on by Stark Brothers nursery under the name Starkrimson, but today it is more widely known as Kalle or Red Clapp’s Favorite.
Red Clapp’s Favorite characteristics
Gardening skillAverage
Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
Pollination group4
Pollinating othersAverage
Picking seasonEarly
UsesEating freshCulinary
Keeping (of fruit)1-3 days
General resistancePoor
FireblightSome susceptibility
ScabVery susceptible
Cold hardiness (USDA)Zone 3 (-40C)
Summer maximum temperaturesWarm (25-30C / 76-85F)
Country of originUnited States
Fruit colorYellow / Red"
Walmart had Starkrimson pears last fall. They were superb. I was so impressed I purchased a tree a few months ago even knowing it is susceptible to fireblight.
I lose a clapps favorite every few years to fireblight then graft more. The same is true of clara frijs. Graft them high so you dont lose the trunk. I frequently use a resistant pear as an interstem now. Before they declared war on callery around here i grafted straight to callery. I will try to show you some examples later if i get a chance.
Update
Clapps take a long time to fruit here. I graft a few limbs on other trees from time to time just like comice to hide some scion wood from fireblight. One photo below was a 15 year old clapps favorite killed to the callery by fireblight. The other is one that is producing that is the same age.
Since I have never wanted many early pears, I have resisted planting a Clapp’s tree but finally broke down in April 2022 and grafted it to a vigorous OHxF 513 root sprout from a previous Beurre Superfin I had to remove. It is now over 6 feet tall and maybe will fruit in the next year or two. I think I’ll graft Kalle onto it.
Our farmers market has a pear stand so we recently tried Starkrimson for the first time. We thought it was excellent! Good texture and sweetness with a nice floral type flavor. And they’re very charming looking, they kinda remind me of “if a gnome was a fruit”. I bought several more yesterday.
I am tempted to graft it onto one of my trees but I don’t really want to deal with more fireblight prone varieties.
I’m trying to collect all of the sports of Comice. So far I only have Regal Red and a couple trees of the original. Can anyone name some of the other sports?
This website has descriptions of some of the newer varieties in it.
Doyenne du Comice - Crimson Gem
Doyenne du Comice - Crimson Gem #2
Doyenne du Comice - Regal Red
Doyenne du Comice - Spur
Doyenne du Comice - Taylor’s
Doyenne du Comice - Taylors Gold
Doyenne du Comice 4n
I have Crimson Gem, Regal Red, Taylor’s Gold, and Spur. BTW, Spur was grafted on a mature rootstock along with Crimson Gem and Regal Red on April 10, 2022. It has fruit this year. I’m not sure why it is called Spur but maybe the spurs mature to fruiting sooner. I do think they are spaced closer together but I need a cooler day and a stepstool to check more closely.
Does anyone know or have other theories? I should have scions this winter.
