Bosc has been the only tree I’ve lost to FB. Seems to be a problem with it. Real shame. Bosc is a great unique pear and I wish mine was still around.
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For our purposes the Jana pear will always be thought of as your family pear. Here is another that goes by that name. I dont want anyone to confuse them.
“Jana pear variety
This variety was created in the Czech Republic by crossing the Untoasaa lahvice and President Drouard varieties.
The fruits are large. The peel is smooth, thin, green, with slightly rusty lenticels. The pulp is yellow, buttery, sweet, aromatic and very juicy.
The tree has an average growth, forms a smaller crown.
It enters fruiting very quickly, has a regular fruiting.
The fruits are harvested in early October and gradually ripen from late November to January.
This variety is very resistant to low temperatures and fungal diseases.”
Credit for the write up and photos go to Romeo
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I bought some Shenandoah from a local place and I really like them. Never had a pear with any acid bite to it before. It’s not particularly sharp or lingering, so they were probably stored for a bit before they went on sale I’d guess.
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It may be like tomatoes where some people are more senstive than others.
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Thanks for the very good list! How about White Doyenne? Have you tried it?
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As you will notice, I always call it by the entire name ‘Jana’s Pear’ and often put (probably Warren) after the name. Tana, in post 397 of the Pear Harvest 2023 thread, told me about the pear named Jana from the Czech Republic. Here is my response:
The Jana that I grow is named Jana’s Pear until we figure out its true identity. My wife’s name is Jana and this tree, her favorite, was a mislabeled scion from one of our local CRFG scion exchanges - supposedly Moonglow. I probably should have a DNA analysis done. We have done taste comparisons with Warren and Magness. No conclusions. I think it is Warren, Jana is not sure. I’ll show Jana that there is another pear with her name. When we were in Slovakia and Czechia, we discovered that Jana is a very common name there.
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White Doyenne is a very good pear. I grew it many years ago, but the tree died of fire blight. I grafted it again this year. It will be a single limb on a blight-resistant rootstock tree.
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Shenandoah has enough acid that it makes a great cooking pear.
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More about the pear named ‘Jana’. Tana said it was a cross with Bosc so my sources found this: ‘Jana’ is cross between Boscova lahvice × Drouardova
Boscova lahvice is the Czech (and Slovak) name for the cultivar known internationally as Beurré Bosc.
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Drouardova aka President Drouard or just short form Drouard.
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Yesterday, October 12.2025, our Redwood Empire Chapter of CRFG held its annual Apple/Pear tasting event. I took 22 pears from my orchard that I had attempted to ripen. Most were in good shape. Warren was over ripe and did not score well. It was only out of refrigeration for 6 days, I’d better start drying,eating or giving them away
Here is the list with average scores:
| Cultivar | Avg Score |
|---|---|
| Potomac | 4.79 |
| Jana’s Pear (Probably Warren) | 4.42 |
| Harrow Sweet | 4.31 |
| Abbe Fetel | 4.28 |
| Dana Hovey | 4.26 |
| Darby Road (possibly Comice) | 4.23 |
| Conference | 4.17 |
| Beurre Superfin | 4.13 |
| Taylor Gold | 4.06 |
| Paragon | 3.94 |
| Duchesse d’ Angouleme Bronzee | 3.93 |
| Warren | 3.86 |
| Leopardo Morettini | 3.67 |
| Onward | 3.67 |
| Orcas | 3.38 |
| Cascade | 3.31 |
| Doyenne du Comice | 3.25 |
| Elliot | 3.22 |
| California | 3.06 |
| Rocha | 2.87 |
| Gem | 2.83 |
| Jilin | 1.94 |
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That seems pretty accurate. Warren does not age as good as some. It is great for fresh eating , much like comice. Potomac on the other hand is a great refrigerator pear if you like anjou. Some warren get very soft and others are exceptional. No doubt jana’s pear was like a perfect warren it rated high. Harrow sweet will almost always rate well if you like bartlett.
Pretty hard to get an accurate taste test with so many varieties. It’s almost impossible to get them all to peak ripeness for each variety.
Hard to believe Comice scored so low. With Taylor Gold scoring higher I’m guessing the low Comice score was ripeness. Also find it odd HS scored so high. It’s a good pear, but it’s basically a Bartlett. I would have scored several of the others above it, but my taste are more in line with the Comice taste.
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So right. They have to be perfect to rate highly. I was surprised that Warren was so ripe. It and Jana’s Pear were both picked within a day or two of each other and removed from the refer the same day. It didn’t feel too ripe.
We finally had a significant rain today. A little early for our area but welcome to decrease our chances for wild fires that are most common in October.
This week I need to start picking El Dorado and finish Duchess A and B. Belle Picard is also ready to pick, I think.
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Robert, I was very surprised that Taylor’s Gold was ripe enough to rate so highly. I only had one Comice to taste and you are correct-not ripe enough. But, Darby’s Road scored well. I’m almost certain it is Comice.
People love Harrow Sweet. Not my favorite. My tastes are along the same lines as yours.
We have another tasting of fall fruit in mid November. I’ll have hopefully perfectly ripe Comice there. This one is for our members so I’ll only take a few excellent varieties.
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My first and only Superfin gave the external impression it was ready, but was a bit firm yet inside once the knife cut into it. The only thing super was the acid content. I’ve never had a pear that acidic, but the internal texture was the first clue it wasn’t prime.
The tree is loaded with fruit buds for next year, but that’s a long wait with no guarantees. The whole pear experience isn’t for the impatient.
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I’ve read about 3 or 4 pears recently that are super acidic and can be matured on the counter to the level of ripeness desired. People who want intensely flavored fruit tend to like them.
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Potomac is turning out to be a real winner. The fruit we tasted on Sunday were the “runts of the litter”. Small and ugly, but the tasters loved them. It was the only pear that everyone who tasted it gave the best or next best flavor. Every other pear had someone who didn’t think it was very good.
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Tell us more about those varieties with good acid. I have never had a pear tart, pie or cake that I didn’t like, but a little acid really helps.
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Egads! Now I have to dig back through a ton of notes to find a few pears that are reported to have high acidity. I’ll see what I can find. You realize this means I have to add more fields to my excel data. Now I need to know which pears are:
Fruit use (fresh, storage, culinary, preserves, perry)
Flavor (sweet, sour, bitter, acidic)
I found one variety with a quick search. Pitmaston Duchess is reported to be an excellent culinary pear with large yellow fruit, fairly acidic, outstanding as a canned pear. If you have Book of Pears, look it up! It is in Corvalis as PI 541243.
Belle des Arbres is another. Still looking.
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