I don’t know re hybrid but from the looks, it is mostly European. Lucky describes it as a variety he grafted years ago and lost the tag. Maturity appears to be late October to early November. Texture is firm with no grit cells. Flavor is distinctly European though it is mild compared with Warren. Juiciness is good but not similar to typical Asian varieties which have a lot of crunch and juice.
Are you tasting Lucky’s pear directly off the tree or has it been refrigerated?
I had 2 pears and tried the first straight off the tree. I refrigerated the second for about 3 weeks followed by several days in my car before I ate it. The second tasted better though both were good. This is the first year it had fruit after grafting about 5 years ago.
It has no grit cells and too much russeting to be Kieffer. I don’t know enough about Improved Kieffer.
Thank you so much for your pear report.
You are the reason I even have any pear trees.
Previously, I had only ever had mediocre pears, which weren’t that impressive, and because of you, I started trying different pears at the supermarket and fell in love with red clapp’s favorite.
I have quite a nice group of pear trees now.
This year I got about four Shinko Asian pears, and three Packham’s fruits.
Packham’s are waiting on the counter to ripen and I think I picked the first Shinko fruits too early but the last bigger one I left till it turned yellow and it did taste like butterscotch. I couldn’t believe it.
I bought many Asian pears from the grocery stores and they’ve never had any flavor, but the yellow Shinko was wonderful
So thank you for championing pears and I am very happy I have pear trees.
Yes indeed! I am also very thankful to have friends who had strongly suggested pears and Asian pears be added to my list of fruit trees to grow.
Darrel, I checked the tag on the graft for the late ripening pear. It is labeled Madame Andre Leroy. Obviously not correct, so now I have to guess what it could be. It is on a large multi-grafted Seuri Asian pear. We didn’t like that the fruit tasted like Juicy Fruit gum.
I started top-working it in 2011. My plan was to find late ripening varieties that would stay on the tree until November at least. Obviously, I have not found many meeting that criteria that have excellent dessert quality. Most of the scions were sourced from the Corvallis Repository. I have lost a few varieties to fireblight, and a couple did not grow well.
I tried to post a spread sheet but I’m not able. I’ll send it to your email.
The shape of Madame Andre Leroy is rather unique per the photos on ARS-Grin. Do you have a picture of the imposter?
No photos of the imposter yet. The graft is fruiting at the top of the big tree, but I should be able to pick them with my 10-foot picker. If I get a chance, I’ll do that tomorrow.
If you look at the GRIN images, you will see a few of Madame Andre Leroy were uploaded to the site by me recently and you will see the date as 9-20-2016. That is when it should mature. So, I think the tag has been relocated or the graft of Madame Andre Leroy was removed and the tag is still on the large limb where it had been one of two varieties. As I said, it is high in the tree. I’ll have to get the tall ladder and see if I can find a small tag on the remaining fruiting branch. I cannot remember removing the graft, and I still have it listed in my database. However, I did not have any pears this year that looked like the images. I usually update my orchard inventory when a tree is removed for whatever reason.
Suij pears were blown off the tree in our wind storm a few nights ago and promptly eaten by critters. Hopefully, one or two are remaining.
Here are photos of a few pears I picked recently. The first is Belle Picarde, picked on 10/28/2025. Here is the information on GRIN.
A very large winter pear which makes a superb delicious compote, cooking to a beautiful light pink. It is also good for dessert with white, melting, sugary, pleasant flavored flesh but must be carefully ripened off the tree. The fruit is often orange-red and speckled on the sunny side. A French pear discovered about 1850. – Robert Nitschke, Southmeadow Fruit Gardens Catalog, 1976.
I find it has good sugar directly off the tree, and I have cooked with it with success.
Next is Barlow. Here is what I posted in my original Pear 2023 thread and slightly updated.
Barlow aka Eric’s Pear
I introduced this pear to the fruit-growing community through the CRFG Plant Registration Program in December 2022 and added it to the USDA Corvallis Pear Repository. The narrative there has been erroneously edited. Here is the information that should be there.
“Matures late Sept/early Oct. Ripe late Oct, stores in refrigerator until mid to late Dec. Very tasty, sweet with minimal stone cells. It does not tend to have core breakdown.
The tree appears to be regrowth from a tree that died or was cut down as four equal sized trunks have regrown. It has been poorly pruned, mainly headed. It
also has large sharp spurs. My grafts are 6 years old and new growth seems to have fewer sharp spurs.
I have noticed no significant scab. The owner of the original tree states that it has had some fire blight but that was easy to control. He has a Bartlett tree nearby that has had severe blight.”
2022 was a bad fire blight year and my tree did lose a limb but no other problem and no recurrence since.
I’m anxious for others to try this variety. I should be able to get scions from the original tree this year. Let me know if you want scions - available for postage only.
And finally, Josephine de Malines was picked on several days. These photos are of the 10/30/2025 harvest. Pears are still hanging on one of the grafts as of today, 11/7/2025. This has become one of our favorite winter pears, along with El Dorado. I have a couple of dozen in the refer and will probably start ripening them in December.
I like the looks of all three of them. The best I recall, I have Barlow from you this past spring.
I think I added a stick or two of Barlow to your scion request last year.
Sarah, thanks for the kind words. I hope this will help other people as well.
Great detailed photos and descriptions to help so many of us here that have not had the pleasure of growing so many nice varieties pears. Thank you for all this useful information.
It weighted just under 1.5 lbs, 1.48 lbs
Thanks Mike. Big pear!
I’m going to find somewhere to put these. Everyone seems to love them. David you must have a garage full of refrigerators to house that massive collection. I keep telling myself no more pears and every year more seem find their way here. I don’t have a problem. I can quit adding pears anytime.
Neither do I. I’m enjoying every minute of my insanity. Here is what I have growing currently:
~Flame, ~Foley’s, ~Scottsboro Callery, Abate Fetel, Ambrosia, Aurora, Ayres, Barlow, Bartlett - Nye Russet, Bartlett, Red, Beierschmitt, Bell, Beurré Alexandre Lucas, Beurré Superfin, Blake’s Pride, Butirra Rosata Morettini, Cabot Vermont, Chojuro, Clara Frijs, Clark’s Yellow, Conference, Daisui Li, Dana Hovey, Devoe, Diamond, Douglas, Doyenne du Comice, Drippin’ Honey, Duchess, Early Yellow, Elliot, Ewart, Giant Seckel, Golden Boy, Harrow Delight, Harrow Sweet, Harvest Queen, Highland, Honeysweet, Hood, Hosui, Improved Kieffer, Kalle, Kieffer, Korean Giant, Korean Golden, Lazy J, Le Conte, Ledbetter, Leona, Lincoln, Luscious, Magness, Maxine, New World, Niitaka, Onward, Orient, Pai Li, Plumblee, Potomac, Rousselet de Reims, Seckel, Seuri Li, Shenandoah, Shin Li, Shinko, Spalding, Sucree de Montlucon, Summer Blood Birne, Summercrisp, Sunrise, Turnbull Giant, Tyson, Very Late, Warren, Winter Nelis, Ya Li, Zao Su Red
And here are the varieties I’m delving into with plans to graft many of them this spring. This is NOT a final list. I will likely add and remove several varieties in the next 2 or 3 months.
Acres Home, Akizuki Nashi, Bella di Giugno, Biscamp, Carmen, Charles Harris, Cocomerina, Dew Drop, Dixie Delight (asian), Easter, El Dorado, Farmingdale, Gorham, Granny Durden, Happi!, Hudar, Johantorp, Josephine de Malines, Klementinka, Leopardo Morettini, Monterrey, Nanguo Li, Raja, Savannah, Stuttgarter Geishirtle, Vavilov, Wilder Early, Xinjaing fragrant pear, Yoinashi, Yulu
I think I’m going to add a couple more trees and just start making them with 3-4 varieties on them. That way I can increase the varieties without the need for an industrial refrigerator. I’m already way overloaded.
