I’ve been making dried pear slices out of my golden boys. They are out of this world!
Another thing about golden boy is once they start to turn yellow in the fridge they get mealy real fast.
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I still like Bartlett
Are you able to grow bartlett? I hear they succumb to fireblight when they start to flower. I’ve not tried it here because FB is so rampant at my locstion. I guess I’m a lot farther south than you though.
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Bartlett is fine…if I pick it in time before it drops.
Tree and limbs … let’s just say fireblight has not been a big problem for me. Did lose a “Clara Frijs” pear graft to fireblight earlier this month. And I removed a foot or so from one apple that had a blackened stem. Root rot from too much moisture has been my issue this year…that plus birds, squirrels, and cool conditions at pollination time.
Kieffer is the pear if you can’t grow pears, but I’ll ignore it if I have other choices. (I don’t have this variety…but have experience in other people’s yards).
Recently, I have had many personal messages inquiring about southern pears. Please see the valuable information above. Here is a reasonable detailed list. There are many more not on the list we need to add.
Improved kieffer 400 chill hours
Kieffer 350 chill hours
Orient 300 chill hours
Ayers 300-400 chill hours
Warren 600 chill hours
fan-stil 500 chill hours
Pineapple 150 chill hours
leona 400-450 chill hours
Hood 150 chill hours
Flordahome 150-250 chill hours
Baldwin 150 chill hours
Tenn 150-450 chill hours
Maxine pear chill hours not determined
Here is a second opinion, but there may be some overlap Dallas Fruit and Vegetable Grower - Growing Pear Trees in Dallas and Texas
and https://www.texaspecannursery.com/product-category/pears/.
Here is an older thread pears for south
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@Auburn is your best bet on an expert opinion on this pear. My understanding is it’s an early blooming pear in the south but is considered by many to be in the late category Golden Boy pear. Your opinion .it is a favorite southern variety. There is even more about it here Golden Boy Soft Pear Tree - Just Fruits and Exotics and above. Would recommend you read this by @coolmantoole 2016 European pear variety observations - #4 by coolmantoole this Photo ID-Callery Pear? - #16 by coolmantoole this The pears you may not have heard of and should consider growing - #49 by coolmantoole this Advice on pear in Georgia - #6 by coolmantoole more importantly this Status of some pear blooms/buds at my location . In that thread kieffer and Orient overlap Golden boy blooms @Auburn documented it there on March 20th at his old location. Kieffer and orient are canning pears but there are many who enjoy them fresh off the tree. I enjoy a crisp kieffer sometimes myself. There is more documentation on this website should you need it.
Note that JF & E consider it a late bloomer which is inconsistent with other posts in my opinion. They are a highly reputable nursery and i dont grow the variety myself.
"
Late Bloomer
Golden Boy Soft Pear Tree"
Many of the members of the old thread https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2808503/pears-for-south are @alan @Lucky_P @rayrose @cousinfloyd and many others on this site now. They may be able to offer additional advise they have learned over time. Kansas where i grow pears is different from the south but there are some similarities.
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@barry - bartlett is one of the varieties I tried here Zone 7a, Tennessee… around 12 years ago.
Started flowering good in year 2, got FB, died in year 3.
I tried other varieties back then… one was Anjou… don’t recall the others… and the exact same thing happened to them. Started blooming good, got FB, and died in a year or two.
I have a gold rush apple… that got several hits of FB last year… some nasty looking dark lesions on scaffold branches this spring… it seems to be heading the same direction.
I have not tried pears again for many years now… but this spring have grafted kieffer and improved kieffer onto a couple of callery rootstock. If I can get these to survive… I hope to graft on other FB resistant varieties, possibly Orient.
All of the old established homestead pear trees that I know of around here are kieffer.
Rock hard when they start falling… but you can store them for a few weeks and they ripen up nicely.
I may be one of the few to say this but I like them once ripened in storage. They make awesome pear preserves too. If I could get kieffer to live here and produce I would be tickled.
On the Orient Pear… I found this youtube vid the other day… a guy harvesting his and eating one. Man it looks so good to me. If I could get that to produce here… I would be extra happy.
TNHunter
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There are many soft types you can grow now that won’t die from fireblight. You started with 2 of the resistant pears which is smart. I grow both kieffer and improved kieffer. They both get fireblight strikes, and neither dies from those strikes. They produce very heavy.
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Thanks @clarkinks — my grafts are looking promising so far.
Excited to try pears again… and J Plums this year.
TNHunter
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Add these from above to your list of ones to grow in the future. There are many others mentioned on this thread.
Improved kieffer 400 chill hours
Kieffer 350 chill hours
Orient 300 chill hours
Ayers 300-400 chill hours
Warren 600 chill hours
fan-stil 500 chill hours
Pineapple 150 chill hours
leona 400-450 chill hours
Hood 150 chill hours
Flordahome 150-250 chill hours
Baldwin 150 chill hours
Tenn 150-450 chill hours
Maxine pear chill hours not determined
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@clarkinks … i was sent some orient, ayers, potomac, korean giant, harrow sweet, scions…
this spring in addition to kieffer and imp kieffer.
I grafted kieffer and imp kieffer on my two callery transplants … out in my field.
Grafted 3 orient scions onto other callery pears in the edge of my field… hoping to add orient to my (out in the field) pears next spring.
At my sisters i added grafts of KG, Potomac, Harrow sweet… to a couple of pear trees she has…
And at my neighbors place this week added grafts of ayers and orient to a couple of callery pears there…
I hated to throw those scions away… that i did not have room for… and found others to give them to… and get some more grafting experience.
Hopefully some of those take and grow this year… and i can collect scions from them if needed next winter.
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You’re grafting already? Another 2 weeks before I do cleft grafts and 3 to 4 weeks before I expect bark to be slipping here.
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Hey everyone!
I am planning to plant two pear trees in my backyard and am looking for recommendations on good eating pears fresh off the tree. I live in south Alabama zone 8b. So far, I am considering an Ayers and a Golden Boy but I am not sure if their bloom periods overlap. Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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My opinion is ayers wont work since it doesn’t overlap golden boy bloom time. I’m saying this based off @Auburn post, but i will let him speak for himself Status of some pear blooms/buds at my location . I dont grow golden boy.
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@hambone … yes have grafted several pears, goumi and a plum so far.
Still waiting on apples and persimmons.
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The bloom of my Ayers and Golden Boy do not overlap. Golden Boy overlaps pretty good with Dixie Delight and Senator Clark, and also with a whole bunch of callery pears around the neighborhood. Dixie Delight and Sen Clark are from the Wildife Group in Tuskegee. Dixie Delight is a very tasty asian pear type - russet, round, sweet, crunchy. I have not had any Senator Clark yet to eat. Golden Boy for me has not been a great pear for fresh eating. It goes mealy on the tree and the counter, and is only mildly sweet. However, it makes extremely good dried pear slices. So I’m keeping it just for that alone. Ayers overlaps with Harrow Sweet and Warren in my yard. Ayers is excellent for fresh eating. Its very sweet with a melting texture. Harrow Sweet is even sweeter, at least for me. I’m in E Alabama.
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I didn’t have much free time today so I’m a little late posting. This is my bloom date/sequence for this year as of now.
20230221 Southern Bartlett first bloom.
20230223 Southern Bartlett has about 6 blooms.
20230225 Southern Bartlett is about 1/2 bloom.
20230304 Southern Bartlett. almost finished bloom
20230302 Golden Boy has about 5 open blooms.
20230305 Golden Boy pear is in full bloom.
20230304 First bloom. Orient, Kieffer, Dixie delight.
20230308 Full bloom. Orient, Improved Kieffer, and Dixie Delight
20230309 Ayers, Korean Giant, Harrow Sweet, and Dripping Honey all have bloom buds getting bigger and I’m assuming these will bloom with good overlap.
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Ayers blooms later than Golden Boy. Look at my post above for better pollen partners.
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Thanks for describing Dixie Delight. I have a bunch of pears from TWG (Dixie Delight, Becton, Gate, Galloway, Orient, McKelvey, Arthur Ledbetter, Kiefer, Gate, Moonglow, Gilmer Christmas, Ms Laneene, and perhaps a couple others) that should be producing this year or next. That was one I was interested in knowing about since I heard it’s also a great eater. I tried Becton last year. Aside from the skin, it’s not a bad pear if allowed to ripen off the tree. Vigorous too.