What pears would this group recommend for a 6b hardiness zone? Golden Boy and LeConde are mentioned frequently here, but are rated at hardiness zone 8 or above. If you had space to plant a few pears, what would your top 5 recommendations be for 6b?
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Iād not be looking To JF&E in Florida for pears.
I think you can grow Northern pears in Madison & Yancey counties in NC.
I donāt buy from JF&E anymore due to my hardiness zone. Experience has taught me to graft or order from a more northern nursery despite being in a south eastern state of the US. Below are the pears I currently have planted. Since they havenāt fruited, I canāt rate them on how they perform in my area or their flavor. I, also, have an unknown Asian pear that has a very strong strawberry taste that is delicious. Itās very disease resistant and is loaded with pears. My wifeās family believe this pear was planted by her great grandfather. But no one knows what cultivar it is.
- Hosui
- Kieffer
- Moonglow
- Olton Broussard
- Plumblee Pear
- Shinko
- Warren Pear
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Highly recommend you look at this thread for some ideas on pears you might want to grow Clarkinks 2021 / 2022 recommended pears everyone must have
Southern pears are fantastic for the south but what works great there does not always work great in zone 6. Nothing wrong with the pears you have planted now either. In zone 6b your in a good spot where you get the best of both worlds. Itās not to hot or cold to grow any pears for you.
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Iāve not tried apples in Floridaā¦but one variety is from the Bahamasā¦so you should be able to find a couple for your location.
Thanks, Iāll take a look. In my environment, I have all the disease issues associated with the humid south and a touch of the coldness associated with the north due to my elevation. I donāt see pear trees in this area. This is because they have a reputation of disease taking them out.
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Did you end up getting it? I added Potomac and Warren last Springā¦theyāre next to each other. Potomac is doing well and seems happier so far than Warren. 7A Maryland.
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Itās been a great year for pears in my orchard. Both Ayers and Golden Boy have produced very well. Ayers is just about finished, Golden Boy has another week or so of pears I imagine. Both have had good size, been disease free using a minimal spray organic approach, mostly ignored by insects, and good though very different flavors. Ayers has that European pear richness, but the skin is astringent. Golden boy lacks the richness, but tastes like a pear, very juicy, crisp but not hard, and no astringency. Thanks to @alan for his baffle advice, which has allowed me to harvest almost all of them. The raccoons, possums, and squirrels that frequent my orchard seem baffled by the baffles. The only real challenges have been Golden boy wants to grow everything vertically, even though its in full sun, and figuring out when both of them are ripe. Ayers on the left, Golden Boy on the right.
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I also haāve a good crop on both of those this year. I second your descriptions. Ayers had some FB even with a spray or two of strep but it progressed so slowly was easy to prune out. Picked Ayers a couple weeks ago. Iāll pick GB this weekend I think.
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GB and ayers have both ripened over a long period. My tentative conclusion about ripening is that GB does best hanging on the tree longer than Ayers, and in fact may be best hanging on the tree as long as possible while Ayers will rot on the tree if not picked.
Do you grow any other pears you definitely recommend?
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Is anyone in Zone 7 picking Potomac or Blakes Pride yet?
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Warren and harrow sweet are very good. Warren is a bit of a rotter. Maybe 20% rotted. I guess I can live with that. I didnāt spray or bag it. Iād guess a couple sprays would knock that rot back. It ripened right around Ayers time for me. Dixie delight is a good Asian type pear with zero rot and zero FB. Very good flavor. On the small side.
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I should mention I sprayed strep on all these but Dixie delight, so I donāt think my FB observations are indicative of susceptibility in a no spray situation
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Iāve 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. Iāve not tried it here because FB is so rampant at my locstion. I guess Iām a lot farther south than you though.
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Bartlett is fineā¦if I pick it in time before it drops.
Tree and limbs ā¦ letās just say fireblight has not been a big problem for me. Did lose a āClara Frijsā 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 yearā¦that plus birds, squirrels, and cool conditions at pollination time.
Kieffer is the pear if you canāt grow pears, but Iāll ignore it if I have other choices. (I donāt have this varietyā¦but have experience in other peopleās 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 itās 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, Tennesseeā¦ around 12 years ago.
Started flowering good in year 2, got FB, died in year 3.
I tried other varieties back thenā¦ one was Anjouā¦ donāt recall the othersā¦ 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 appleā¦ that got several hits of FB last yearā¦ some nasty looking dark lesions on scaffold branches this springā¦ it seems to be heading the same direction.
I have not tried pears again for many years nowā¦ but this spring have grafted kieffer and improved kieffer onto a couple of callery rootstock. If I can get these to surviveā¦ 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 fallingā¦ 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 Pearā¦ I found this youtube vid the other dayā¦ a guy harvesting his and eating one. Man it looks so good to me. If I could get that to produce hereā¦ I would be extra happy.
TNHunter
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