Pear Harvest 2025

[jrd51]

@clarkinks

Well, I have 100% confidence in your expertise on pears. I totally believe your assessment.

I tried to find old receipts but I could find only one of three. In any case, the most parsimonious explanation is that I mixed up labels on two of the trees. I’m sure it doesn’t matter to anyone but me, but now I realize that:

1. I have a “Harrow Delight” on OHxF87 that ripens mid to late August, as you suggest it should. No issue. This tree was properly labeled.

2. I have a “Harrow Sweet” on OHxF87 that produced the fruit pictured. It was mislabeled, misidentified as “Harrow Delight” in my notes. Thank you again for the correction!

3. I have a tree that I thought was “Harrow Sweet” but must have been “Harrow Delight” and now appears to be rootstock only (OHxF97) as the graft apparently died. As noted, I’ll top work it.

[mayhaw9999]

Let’s compare some photos of Harrow Delight and Harrow Sweet. These have been posted on the Growing Fruit 2023 and 2024 threads. I didn’t take photos of my Harrow Delight fruit this year as I was too busy with “life”.
It’s nice to have the fruit to compare side to side, but, of course, the Harrow Delight are long gone now. If you look back in this thread, I posted that I picked Harrow Delight between July 18 and July 29. Beautiful fruit this year. I have been picking Harrow Sweet for the past week. I have two productive trees. One on OHxF 87 has too many very small fruit even though I thinned it fairly well., The other, on OHxF 333, has its first crop this year. The fruit are good size and set so heavily that one small limb broke. I took photos a few minutes ago of fruit picked from the 333 tree. They are still wet with dew. A few fruits are still not releasing when lifted.

I hope this helps someone. When you look at a fruit to try to identify it, always look at the stem/cavity end and the calyx/basin end. As you gain experience, you can immediately tell if a fruit is one of the ones you have learned to identify.

[clarkinks]

@mayhaw9999

Your pictures are very consistent with mine as well as your ripening times. We certainly without a doubt can confirm for everyone which is which. I hope we can find someone who can find some of the missing harrow pears from that project

25 Harrow pear varieties

Harrow pears continue to show promise. " The ‘Harrow’ (Ontario, Canada) pear breeding program was initiated in 1962 to develop fire blight resistant pear selections for the fresh and processing markets ." Have never seen anyone attempt to list all 25 varities. It is my feeling we should grow the ones we can and continue to watch for the others to be released. Harrow hw623 & hw624 are now known as Happi & Dew drop pears Harrow hw623 & hw624 Happi & Dew drop pears a follow up https://www.ars.us…

[jrd51]

Thanks to everyone for the help.

@mayhaw9999 – What characteristics do you use to identify a pear based on the two ends. I see that Harrow Delight is much fatter around the stem, whereas Harrow Sweet is somewhat narrower. What else?

[mayhaw9999]

There are characteristics that are used to describe the fruit. I have never had any formal training in botany or pomology, so I only know what I have read and observed.
I bought Joan Morgan’s The Book of Pears a few years ago and became interested in trying to ID pears based on her descriptions. She has the Fruit Description outline on pages 189 - 191.

Below is what is in The Pears of New York. It doesn’t mention the Eye that can be open, part-open or closed.
"The stem.—Varying as little as any other character of the pear, the stem is much used in identification. It may be long and slender, as in the Beurré Bose; short and thick, as in Doyenné du Comice; fleshy, as in Louise Bonne de Jersey; clubbed, when enlarged at the end; and lipped when the flesh forms a protuberance under which the stem is inserted. The stems of pears are often set obliquely as in Beurré Clairgeau; or are crooked or curved as in Howell. In a few varieties the stems are channeled. The stems of some pears have distinguishing colors, those of others are pubescent. In some pears, as Souvenir d’Espéren, there are bud-like projections on the stem.

The length of the stem in pears is a reliable diagnostic character only when it is known from what part of the flower-cluster the fruit was developed. For, as a rule, the nearer the flower to the tip of the raceme in the pear, the shorter the stem on the fruit.

Cavity and basin.—The cavity, the depression in which the stem is set, offers several marks which greatly enhance the value of a description of any of the pears. The cavity may be acute or obtuse; shallow, medium, or deep; narrow, medium, or broad; smooth or russeted; furrowed, ribbed, angular, or uniform; or it may be lipped as described under stem. The color of the skin within the cavity is sometimes different from that without, and there may be radiating lines, rays, or streaks.

The basin, the depression in which the calyx is set, is as important as[65] the cavity in classifying pears and is described by the same terms. The furrows in the basin are sometimes indistinct and are then called wavy. The skin around the calyx-lobes may be wrinkled, plaited, folded, or corrugated. Rarely, there are fleshy protuberances about the calyx-lobes called mammiform appendages.

Calyx-lobes.—The withered calyx-lobes persist in some pears and not in others. They persist in European pears, but are deciduous in the edible-fruited Asiatic species. The calyx-lobes may be open, partly open, or closed in varieties of the fruits in which they are persistent. In some varieties the segments are separated at the base; in others, united. The lobes may lie flat on the fruit or may stand erect. When upright, if the tips incline inward the lobes are said to be connivent; if inclined outward, they are reflexed, or divergent. The lobes may be broad or narrow, with tips acute or accuminate."

That is probably a lot more than you wanted to know!

[resonanteye]

my harrow delight were ready very early and i kept one in the fridge all this past month. early August/late July i believe i picked.

it’s been bumped around a bit in storage.

my comice are hanging still, this tree struggled this year from a dry heat spell during which it wilted heavily, it took daily watering to perk up. yet it has a few on it, it’s only the second or third year in the ground.

it has 6 fruit on it. i want it to stay small so I’m letting it produce as soon as it can. the pears are just starting to droop instead of pointing upward. I’m not sure when they’ll be ready to pick and will stagger picking and get photos to check, so I’m ready for next time.

[mayhaw9999]

Also on 8/29/2025, I picked Onward and Rousselet of Stuttgart x Dr. Jules Guyot Hybrid V.
Onward
GRIN Narrative:
Raised in 1947 at National Fruit Trials, Wisley, Surrey from Laxton’s Superb x Doyenne du Comice and named in 1967. Fruit medium, short pyriform to round conic; skin light green becoming yellow-green, often with pink blush; russeted at the stem and eye. Flesh creamy white, melting, very fine, juicy, sweet rich flavor with balancing acidity. Excellent Quality!

When the local CRFG Chapter had its fruit tasting last October, I took a few pears. Although seveal of the Onward fruit had core breakdown, the one fruit that was still in good shape scored very highly. This one does not save very well, so enjoy it soon. Here are pictures of this year’s very nice fruit.

Rousselet of Stuttgart x Dr. Jules Guyot Hybrid V
Some of you may recall the beautiful images of this pear from last year’s Pear Harvest thread. As a result of that post, I ordered scions from Corvallis and shared them with several people. Here is the photo.

Unfortunately, this year, some varieties developed scab due to rain at the wrong time. Since we have a Mediterranean climate, it is usually dry for most of the season, so I do not spray for scab.
Here is a badly damaged result. Most of the fruit were better, and the flavor was good off the tree.

A sister seedling, Hybrid VII, has been named Vavilov after Nickoli Vavilov the Russian visionary who was imprisoned by Stalin and died of starvation. Vavilov is known as the father of genebanks.
This is from Joseph Postman’s Curator’s Choice list:(https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/20721500/Postman/Curator’s%20Choice%20Pears%2002-2012.pdf) Attractive rainbow-trout colored, crunchy pear that ripens nicely on the tree. Five selections of the cross Rousselet Shtutgartskii x Dr. J. Gujo were received in 1968 from the USSR Vavilov Institute in Leningrad. All five selections have crunchy, attractive, pyriform shaped fruit that ripen in August and September. Selection VII is the most attractive, with red blushed and speckled fruit similar in coloring to Forelle. Tree is disease resistant and cold hardy.

[jrd51]

OK, you guys did such a great job identifying my Harrow types that I thought I’d throw another test in your direction.

I’m not normally into “Name This Fruit” but this is a special case. There’s a very mature abandoned pear tree growing next to a small field across the street. The area all used to be a farm. The tree produces decent pears, which ripen in late October / early November. They store well. A townie friend calls it a “winter pear.” The flesh of a semi-ripe fruit can be gritty.

I didn’t want to lose the variety to a random storm or chainsaw, so a few years ago I grafted it to my own OHx87 rootstock. My young tree is now loaded. But what is it? My best guess is Kieffer.

I picked one pear, knowing that it was probably a month away from ripeness, just to take some pictures:

[steveb4]

despite my grafted over mountain ash sending out a ton of blooms, no fruit set on them this spring. i had 6 fruit set from about 20 blooms last summer. any idea why i didnt have any fruit set? theres 6 varieties on the same tree so it isnt from lack of pollination. they also all bloomed at the same time and my apples , cherries and plums all set fruit so it isnt from lack of pollinators.

[Phlogopite]

Looks and sounds a lot like Keiffer to me but let’s see what the experts say

[mayhaw9999]

I’m not a Kieffer grower, though I have a tree that may be Kieffer - mislabeled Harrow Delight at the scion exchange. I’m going to defer to the Kieffer growers. I thought Kieffer tapered more at the calyx end than this pear.

[mayhaw9999]

Nice Photos!

[Fusion_power]

The Book of Pears - Kieffer

[jrd51]

Interesting – the photos in The Book of Pears look very different from other photos that I’ve seen elsewhere, such as this one:

Kieffer Pear

[Phlogopite]

Improved Keiffer is much less angular from my quick google

[Fusion_power]

Look at Winter Nelis in book of pears The Book of Pears - Winter Nelis

[clarkinks]

One of my best pears most years. It is a small named variety from the usda. It is about the same size as seckle. I think a pack rat stole my tag as a gift to his beloved. Never have i seen anyone else growing this pear.

[PomGranny]

Clark, what got you so interested in pears? Do you just like them a lot?

[mayhaw9999]

Moving into my September harvest.
I was surprised to find a Paragon on the ground under both of my trees on 9/2/2025. My pick time the past two years has been a little later. I ate one today that had ripened on the kitchen counter - very good. I imagine it would have been better if it had had some refrigerator time before ripening.
Here is some information from the breeders at Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center. Paragon is a cross of ‘Comice’ x ‘Max Red Bartlett’. The skin is green and very palatable. The fruit consistently ranks extremely high in pear tastings conducted at the Research Center, ‘Paragon’ is ‘Bartlett’-shaped, blooms with ‘Bosc’, turns yellow with ripening, and matures between ‘Bartlett’ and ‘Comice’. The storage life is approximately four months.

.
Photos;

Rocha
The most important pear cultivar in Portugal. A chance seedling dating from the mid-19th century, discovered in the garden of Pedro Rocha, a horse dealer from Sintra, near Lisbon. Fruit pyriform, medium size, about 60-65 mm. diam.; skin green becoming yellow, with a cap of russet at stem end; flesh white to light yellow, high in sugar, good flavor; harvest in mid August to early September in Portugal; fruit stores until April under controlled atmosphere. Tree medium in size, tip and spur bearer, requires about 550 hours of winter chilling. Susceptible to scab and Stemphylium. Some resistance to fire blight.
Rocha is being marketed by an Oregon nursery under the trade name ‘Madiera’
Photos:

Shroyer’s Sunset
Oregon’s Home Orchard Society (HOS) voted at their November 2018 annual meeting to name a favorite pear selection in memory of long-time member Jerald (Jerry) Shroyer who died on November 9, 2017. Little is known about this selection from Canada, other than it was from a cross made in 1925 by O.A. Bradt in Ontario. The catalog at the Southern Oregon Experiment Station listed this pear as HES 25021, the letters presumably an acronym for ‘Harrow Experiment Station’. There are no records to link this selection to a particular pedigree, however the fruit resembles the cultivar Seckel in size, shape and coloration, although it tends to be slightly larger than ‘Seckel’. The fruit ripens in mid-September, and like ‘Seckel’ has superb texture and flavor. HES 25051, now Shroyer’s Sunset, has been a favorite of HOS members during their annual visits to the USDA Pear Repository in Corvallis.

My fruit are larger than Seckel.
Photos:

[clarkinks]

@PomGranny

Yes i like pears and i find them easy to grow. Every new pear i grow has something i like about it.