I’d like to have a conversation about red pears and how they came into existence.
Pears can have red skin, red flesh, red leaves, and red bark. While most named varieties show one or more of these, all 4 traits in a single variety is uncommon.
I have 3 red varieties currently, Kalle aka Starkrimson aka Red Clapp’s Favorite, red Asian variety which Tony has discussed a few times, and I have Summer Blood Birne as grafts made this spring. Both Kalle and Asian represent chimeric mutations of existing varieties. Kalle shows slightly red bark with green leaves sometimes tinged with red. Red Asian shows red leaves and red bark and is highly ornamental. I’ve eaten Kalle fruit from Walmart - sold as “Starkrimson” - which was fantastic, so much so that I purchased and planted a tree a few months ago. I don’t know much about the Red Asian other than a few pictures of very visually impressive fruit and foliage. Summer Blood Birne is a red flesh pear with a pink cast to the skin when ripe and with red mottled flesh.
So my question is about other red varieties you have growing and why you have them. I show several red Bartlett and Anjou variants as well as several more red flesh varieties.
I only have the Blutbirne. Btw. keep an eye on it when it starts blushing. It usually goes from ripe to bletted within 1-3 days depending on temperature. There are several larger country varieties here, most of them allegedly originate in White Carpathians and have names like Rúžovka, Ružová, meaning roughly “pink”. I’m planning to source some scions at a grafting swap event next year. Some are supposed to be excellent for eating fresh, some were used for drying, like the Blutbirne. Which is what I’m planning to do when mine will be larger.
I’ve kept red bartlett more for the different appearance than anything. I had three of them. One flat out died of FB. A second struggles with disease too. Third is healthy so far. Fruit is fairly good. Nothing special, but not awful like a kieffer Red anjou hasn’t been really healthy for me, but I think it’s been more the specific rootstock specimen (or spot or voles) than the variety on top. Red clapp’s is amazing. I had to prune some disease out of it too though. I have some others on frankentrees but lack of care hasn’t produced any fruit yet that I can recall.
I have 2: Vesilna and Cocomerina/Briaca. I grafted Vesilna last year and it is a low vigor variety. It was bonus wood from someone I purchased other scions from. I grafted Cocomerina this year. I asked Cliff England for a late maturing European pear, and that is what he suggested. I am uncertain as to what to expect from each of them. There is an Italian Slow Food webpage that has a blurb about cocmerina: Cocomerina Pear - Presìdi Slow Food - Slow Food Foundation
I’ve got Red Bartlett, Red Sensation, red asian, Regal Red Comice, and Red Clapps. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the red ones taste better. Looking to get one of the red fleshed ones next.
Ooharibeni is one I don’t have growing, but would love to find scion wood for. That and the weird striped pear and Summer Blood Birne (even though I’ve heard the latter mostly just looks cool, but tastes like a normal pear).
That it does. But it’s usually the only one ripening at the time and it does not store at all to be discarded in comparison with another later variety. So, why not. Also, I will make a wild guess that it was popular also because it is a drying pear and could be dried in sun even in places that required heated drying houses for later varieties.
Red anjou hasn’t been really healthy for me, but I think it’s been more the specific rootstock specimen (or spot or voles) than the variety on top. Red clapp’s is amazing. I had to prune some disease out of it too though. I have some others on frankentrees but lack of care hasn’t produced any fruit yet that I can recall.