where do you get your scion wood for those cultivars? i have some of what you have on my mtn. ash but never heard of the others. i have lucious, nova, patten and stacyville a fedco cultivar. all took last spring and put out from 12 to 24in. of growth by aug.
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RainTree Nursey in Washington State.
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Ive had decent luck with new century asian pear in Z4a
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I bought Ure, Early Gold, and Golden Spice as potted stock from a local nursery.
Walden Large scions came from Todd Parlo at Walden Heights Nursery (I also got Hill scions from him, but that one didn’t survive).
Vavilov, Sauvignac, Southworth, and Okolo came from GRIN.
Kaspar’s Winter, Dana Hovey, and Cabot Vermont came from Fedco.
I don’t recall where my Flemish Beauty and Summercrisp scions came from to be honest.
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I think most any of the OHxF series rootstocks would survive here with good snow cover as well. In years where there is little to snow cover when -30 temps hit, they aren’t as hardy. Older trees can survive losing some of their roots when this happens, but younger stock cannot.
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You might enjoy this thread Recommendations for Cold Hardy Pears, Zone 4 and this one Rootstock for Ure, Golden Spice and Early Gold pear - #2 by clarkinks and this one Early cold-hardy pear varieties? and this one Krazulya Pear - #2 by clarkinks and this one Russian pears for zone 2 - some info I found . @Bernie @hungryfrozencanuck4b from Canada are familiar with russian pears in zone 4 as there may be additional options now. I would also consider contacting Bob Purvis https://purvisnurseryandorchard.weebly.com/ . I have not spoke with Bob in a couple of years but he’s very good with cold climate orchards Bob Purvis Scions eg. Giffard pear was mentioned as a great pear for Alaska https://www.apfga.org/giffard-a-pear-for-alaska/
Alaska fruit growers mention several pears here Alaska Fruit Trees - Pears
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Just want to add that Summercrisp is a decent tasting fruit. I’m in southern Ontario so Canadian 5b. We get questionable cold snaps so
I hedged my bets by going with hardier than I technically need.
For us, it produces in mid august, and that was even with a very late start last year.
I would consider it more of a cooking than fresh eating pear. Solid and does cook and can nicely but a bit hard and not super sweet with some of the grittiness you get in pears.
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Parker is early and keeps well:
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What are your thoughts on the Flemish Beauty so far?
It didn’t survive it’s first winter here. I know two other guys within an hour who also lost theirs due to winter damage. I wouldn’t plant another
Are your winters to harsh for this cultivar? I see that you’re located in a zone 3 micro climate.
Typically, in my zone 4b our winters get into the negative teens without windchill factored in. We had a good snow pack at this time this past winter which must of been a good thing for my young whips in the orchard. Only 2 of the 15 bench grafts I did took so my approach now is to grow the rootstocks for one year in the protected nursery.
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I grow my pears in the field a year or 2 before grafting them. My zone 6 area is not ocerly cold but it is harsh. We were zone 5 then were reclassified 6.
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This area is rated zone 4a now. It used to be zone 3b before “climate change”. There are a number of apple and pear varieties that will survive here. It appears that Flemish Beauty is not one of them.
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I like the reviews of the Flemish Beauty so, I’m going to give it a go if I can locate some scions that is.
I have a Flemish, Summercrisp, Clapps, Luscious near St. Paul, MN. The Clapps has had a few light crops due to cold winters, but the rest seem quite hardy. On northern limits of zone 4a.
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Flemish Beauty should be an easy scion find. If not for free/trade, certainly for purchase.
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St. Paul was 4a on the old USDA zone map. It’s now solidly 4b
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I just did a research of my area and it’s still a solid 4b, that’s a limiting factor with a good number of pears I’m sure. I did go out on a limb though with a good number of the apple varieties I’ve planted out in the orchard.
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There is someone growing a pear tree in Northern Vermont, that is high production there, based upon what I heard about it I think that it’s probably the ‘Early seckel’ variety. https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail?id=1436120
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