There has been a fairly new pear released http://www.perduepear.com/. It’s fire blight resistant and supposedly an eating out of hand quality pear. Has anyone tried it?
It sounds like a tree that would be a good candidate to be multi grafted if what they say about its structure is correct .
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I may order one but i’m still thinking it over. It looks like a winner but it would be 20 years to wait until the patent expired before large plantings occurred. It’s about twice the price of other pears right now.
Looks like hype for a private enterprise to gain profit not based on any real research of the pear. If the pear is really outstanding, the money in commercial production is the usual route.
They got someone with a pedigree to say the pear seemed to perform well in someone’s yard. I would not be the first in line to make the Perdue pear the Perdue’s family “road to riches”.
Of course, it could be a great pear, it just hasn’t been thoroughly evaluated yet. That would be a very expensive process, so the fact it hasn’t been done is not proof of any hesitation to submit it to more scientific evaluation beyond the cost.
I’ve read the Hass avocado was a chance seedling grown in someone’s yard that turned out the be perhaps the most enriching patent for a discoverer’s family ever. It turned out to be a great tree for the industry and completely dominates its field.
Here, Harrow Sweet functions as an almost perfect pear with nice spreading branches to go along with its other virtues, including FB resistance. Perhaps its greatest single virtue, besides the quality of the fruit is it’s precocity. Fruit on the third year after planting is common.
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Harrow Sweet sounds like a great late season pear Alan. I’ve not tried it yet. Sounds like I should get one in the ground.
Duchess is just as good to eat, and bigger. Also relatively resistant to the usual pear problems here, but it is not nearly as reliable or precocious in the fruiting department.
Alan,
As you are probably aware I top worked several large trees to Duchesse d’Angouleme. I requested PI 541336 - COR - Pyrus communis Duchesse d’Angouleme Bronzee and PI 541179 - COR - Pyrus communis Duchesse Bronzee from http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/catalogs/pyrblres.html and will let you know how they do. Scott gave me some information on the Duchesse d’Angouleme when I first discovered it growing in this area at a farm and did not know what it was. If we get to much rain or not enough sun which are both very rare here Duchesse d’Angouleme can be semi bland but still very good. We will see how the Bronzee will do. Harrow Sweet does sound like it’s well worth trying. Thanks
I ate a Duchess off the ground about a week ago that was huge and dead ripe. Although it had ripened entirely on the tree and had been ripe for a while, I’m sure, it was luscious and had plenty enough sugar.
The pear was from a nursery tree with a graft on the central leader 2/3rds of the way up. I knew that Harrow can ripen well on the tree here but this was the first time I’d let a Duchess pear stay on the tree all the way to drop-off ripe.
I have one as part of my pear espalier garden fence that has been bearing for about 5 years. Although H. Sweet is my staple pear for its season, I will save this one.
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Has anyone tried the pear? How did it do?
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" About Perdue Pear Tree
Grows in zones: 6 - 9
The Perdue Pear Tree is a new, patented cultivar that miraculously sprouted from seed at the Perdue family farm in Rosendale, Louisiana. Perdue Pears are of exceptional quality, with a deliciously sweet pear flavor. The Perdue Pear flavor has been described as creamy, sweet, and even reminiscent of the Golden Delicious Apple. The Perdue produces very juicey, sweet pears, and has noticeably less grit cells than traditional southern pears. Perdue Pear fruits are large greenish-yellow pears that have smooth, slightly blotched skin, and a typical pear shape.
In early August, they are ready to eat as firm, green pears but will gradually ripen to a golden brown, soft pear, if preferred. The Perdue Pear Tree is large (20’) with strong limbs that grow at wide angles, and usually don’t require support. The Perdue Pear bears abundant clusters annually and no fire blight has been observed. The L.S.U. horticulturalists believe it to be self-fertile, but a pollinator is recommended for maximum production. (200+ Chill Hours requred) Grows in zones 6-9b."
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