May have to get that Red Hardy. I’ve been collecting all of the red skin varieties. Thought I had most of them, but you just broke out one I never heard of.
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Darrel,
That sounds like a good experiment. I have never been observant of the blossoms, but I have photos of almost every pear when it bloomed for the past several years. Keep us posted about the outcome. Are you going to hand pollinate some blossoms?
That is why I grafted on the existing tree. My Cabot Vermont is only 6 feet tall where the unknown tree was grafted in 2018 and set out in my yard in the winter of 2020. It is about 16 feet tall and has made fruit for the last 2 years.
Today I picked almost all of the Rochas and most of the Seckels and some Honeysweets. When I started picking Dabney, I found that almost all were too ripe and very soft. None had fallen, and since it is a graft fairly high on a tree, I was not aware it was ready to pick. I was only able to save 5 fruit. I’ll post pictures tomorrow. I also found a few Beierschmitt pears that hid from me when I last picked them. They were still perfect. I tested Souvenir du Congress, thinking it should be ready as the local Bartletts are being picked. It did not release from the tree. I’ll wait a few more days. Warren, Magness and Jana’s Pear are starting to drop a few but don’t seem to be quite ready to pick.
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I just picked a fully ripe Warren. It is yellow ripe meaning could be eaten now, but I’m going to wait a day or two. This is one of the highlights of the year. i will have several more varieties to sample in a few days to weeks.
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A few Warrens are starting to fall, but none are ripe yet. I have good crops on Warren, Magness, and Jana’s Pear, and on the Popenoe Duchess, which is also likely Warren. We will have lots to eat, dry, and store for later.
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Here is an update on Rocha. I picked it yesterday 8/7/2026. Almost all came free with a gentle lift. If you recall from prior Pear Harvest posts - I think last year - this is the number one pear in Portugal. It is picked in summer and stored for the winter season in Europe. My small crop went into refrigerator storage.
I picked Dabney yesterday. Unfortunately most were too ripe but here are photos of a few good examples. This is from the same breeding program that released Ayers, a variety that some of you grow.
From Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties:
Originated in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Brooks D. Drain, Tennessee Agriculture Experiment Station. Introduced in 1954. Seckel x Garber; crossed in 1935. The flesh is yellowish-white, melting, tender, juicy, quality very good; flavor sprightly, sweet-subacid and very good dessert quality; picked late July and early August in Tennessee.
Dabney is a sand pear hybrid and one cannot expect its quality to equal European pears. An evaluation by the Ulmer tasters - has some acid and sweetness. We would not rate it as having very good dessert quality but certainly worthy of trial. It is fire blight resistant.
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