Shenandoah pear

General Fruit Growing
#1

Several people are adding these pears. Anyone else have plans to add these?

“This sumptuous pear is not only sweet and juicy but it’s the 3rd fire blight-resistant pear developed by Agricultural Research Service horticulturist, Richard Bell. This large, Bartlett type pear has a sub-acid pear flavor with excellent storage life. Shenandoah stores very well without breaking down for up to five months. Ripens in September. Best pollinators: Bartlett, Anjou or Comice.”
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See this link as well Bell Pear aka US84909-391

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#2

I have one. I love the sub-acid flavor. It is still pretty young so not a lot of fruit off it yet.

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#3

I’ve read that its blight resistance is only moderate, not strong, so I avoided it.

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#4

I put in 5 last year.

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#5

@hambone

That is true it is only moderatly fireblight resistant.

#6

I tried it, and found it much inferior to Seckel, Magness and Comice. These are my top three pears that I judge all others against. Harrow Sweet is a little less tasty, but much better than Shenandoah.

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#7

This is an old article from 2005
" Snappy New Pear Is Long-Storing, Blight-Resistant

By Rosalie Marion Bliss
July 19, 2005
050719.shenandoah-i

Shenandoah, the third fire blight-resistant pear developed by Agricultural Research Service horticulturist Richard Bell, has recently been released. The luscious new pear will appeal to consumers who enjoy rich-tasting fruit, because its higher-than-average acidity gives it a snappy flavor. Shenandoah’s relatively high acidity is balanced with a high level of sugars that makes it sweet.

Fire blight is a devastating pear disease caused by a bacterium, Erwinia amylovora, native to North America. It greatly limits pear production in eastern and midwestern states, so growers in California, Oregon and Washington produce most of the pears harvested in the United States. Shenandoah can be grown in all production regions, but will be especially useful in areas where fire blight is prevalent.

In the Eastern United States, pears mature and are harvested from early August through early October. Shenandoah matures in September, about four weeks after the widely grown Bartlett variety. Commercial and backyard pear growers will find the new pear can be stored for up to four months in cold air storage.

Bell and colleagues at the ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va., began developing the original seedling of Shenandoah more than two decades ago. Because pear trees have a long juvenile period, they don’t produce enough fruit for evaluation until they are five to eight years old. The researchers then spent an additional eight years studying how long the Shenandoah pear tree takes to bear a crop, the quality of the crop’s yield and its consistency from one year to the next.

Certified bud wood of Shenandoah is available to nurseries from Pullman-based Washington State University’s National Research Support Project No. 5, by contacting manager William Howell (wehowell@wsu.edu) or by contacting Richard Bell.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief in-house scientific research agency."

https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2005/snappy-new-pear-is-long-storing-blight-resistant/

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#8

Pollination requirements

" Shenandoah is a Bartlett-style pear, but it ripens 3-4 weeks later than Bartlett, and the pears can be stored in cold conditions for many months.

The flavor is sweet but less one-dimensional than Bartlett, and with some acidity when newly-picked, although this falls away in storage. The fruit size is also somewhat larger than Bartlett.

The pears are yellow/green when ripe, often with an orange flush, flecked with lenticels.

How to grow

Shenandoah flowers in the middle of the pear bloom season, alongside Bartlett. It has some resistance to fire blight, and its natural vigor helps it to resist infection.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Shenandoah was developed in the 1970s in a collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture and Ohio State University. It has a complex parentage, but Bartlett is heavily present in the ancestry and this is very much a Bartlett-style pear. It was developed to be resistant to fire blight.

Shenandoah characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Pollination group3
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • PloidyDiploid
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking seasonLate
  • UsesEating fresh
  • CroppingHeavy
  • Keeping (of fruit)3 months or more
  • General resistanceGood
  • FireblightSome resistance
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)(5) -20F / -29C
  • Summer maximum temperaturesWarm (25-30C / 76-85F)
  • Country of originUnited States
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Flesh colourCream
  • Fruit colorGreen / Yellow
  • Fruit sizeLarge"
#9

impressive storability

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#10

I have several. They are my fastest growing pear. My tallest is about 20’. Seems like they would be pretty precocious, on par with Harrow Sweet. Just haven’t actually got to try any yet due to pollination issues. Maybe this year, as there are many more pear varieties starting to bloom in the orchard.

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#11

@EliindaUP

That sounds really good! How old are they?

#12

The oldest are 7 years old. I have a few younger three to five year old newer grafts as well. The 7-year-old trees were really set back the first few years by a hail storm that defoliated them all in mid June, as well as not having adequate deer protection. I think they would have be much faster to bear under better circumstances. If I remember correctly they are all on OHxF 97.

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#13

Like other storage pears this pear is often grown for this purpose.

" Shenandoah is a new, large and luscious European type pear, more blight resistance than Bartlett. Flavor similar to Bartlett but fruits are larger and can store for up to five months.
Pear Shenandoah Tree with Fruits
Shenandoah Pear

Shenandoah pear (Pyrus communis L.) is a new cultivar that combines spicy aromatic fruit flavor, long storage life, large fruit size, consistent yields, and moderate resistance to fire blight caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora. All major cultivars of commercial importance as well as many of those available to home orchardists are susceptible to this devastating disease. Long storage life, absence of core breakdown, and resistance to superficial scald are also economically important physiological traits. Shenandoah was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and The Ohio State University in 2003 as a fresh market pear for commercial and home orchards.

Shenandoah is a seedling of Max Red Bartlett and US56112-146, the cross made in 1977 by T. van der Zwet and R.C. Blake. The parentage is entirely of P. communis origin, and the original source of resistance is presumed to be the old American cultivar, Seckel, thought to be a parent of Barseck. The original seedling, designated US78304-057, was selected in 1985 by R.L. Bell at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station (AFRS).

Skin color at harvest is light green with 10% to 25% red blush. The skin turns yellow–green when ripe. The finish is glossy. Flesh texture is moderately fine, juicy, and buttery. Flesh color is creamy white. Small grit cells occur primarily around the core and under the skin, similar to Bartlett but with overall grit content and size less than Bartlett. Harvest maturity has been estimated to occur about 3 weeks after Bartlett. In air storage at –1 °C, fruit will store for as long as 111 days without superficial scald or internal breakdown. When harvested firm but optimally mature, the fruit will ripen without post harvest chilling. The flavor is sweet and aromatic.

Full-bloom is midseason, similar to Bartlett. Cropping has been moderately precocious with first fruit set 3 years after planting. Yield in the fourth year of growth after planting have been moderately high and greater than Bartlett. 136.7 kg for Shenandoah versus 59.8 kg for Bartlett.

Plant Characteristics
Pest Resistance Good
Disease Resistance Poor
Heat Tolerance Good
Humidity Tolerance Good
Sun Tolerance Good
Wet Soil Tolerance Poor
Shade Tolerance Fair
No Spray Good
Salt Tolerance Fair
Fresh for Kids Very Good
Deer Resistance Poor
Thorns No
Plant Type Tree
Soil Type Adaptable
Self Fertile No"

https://ediblelandscaping.com/products/trees/PearsEuropean/ShenandoahPear.php

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