First report I heard on Dixie Delight. I grafted this pear a couple years ago. Grew very well the first year. Seems to have rested the next on two mature rootstock. Still waiting on pears.
The late Dr. David Griffith, famed Southern pear collector from Tallapoosa Co., sent me Dixie Delight scions many year ago, along with a number of others, such as Sen. Clark, Big Mama, Galloway, Ledbetter. Iāve lost or misplaced all but Galloway and Ledbetter. Good to see that itās still out there!
The Wildlife Group sells several of the pears you mention. Theyāre geared more towards wildlife trees as youād guess. I think there are two different Ledbetters: Arthur and John Ledbetter. I have an Arthur Ledbetter and several Gallaway trees. Gallaway has been a bit slower grower for me. One might have sunscald. Another with lime green leaves. I think the 3rd is fine but still small. Becton has been the fastest to grow and quickest to produce of the ones I have from TWG. In talking with Allen at TWG, he thinks Dixie Delight is the best he sells for taste.
Any idea of chill requirement for Dixie Delight?
Very little online about it. Bob Wells shows zone 5-9.
We had a recent year with chill hrs in the upper 600s and the bloom was strong and compact, so no trouble. Some of my apples and peaches had trouble leafing out and blooming in that year. I canāt speak to anything lower than that.
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My first year with Golden Boy in ground and I grafted āpineappleā onto it also has been fine. Zero issues, zero spray of any kind. Quite a few pear trees in my neighborhood Iām not sure of the variety, one of my neighbors told me to help myself as it seems to be a cooking pear. But I wish he would let me prune his tree. Always hurts me to see fruit trees growing how I wouldnāt let them grow. Dead limbs and poor angles etc haha
Just picked up a nice caliper Monterrey pear from the amazing Enchanted Gardens nursery in Fort Bend (southwest of Houston).
I picked the tree with the most spur buds low on the trunk. Currently my thoughts are espalier.
If you ever get a chance to go to Enchanted Gardens, please do. Amazing nursery with a lot of interesting garden accoutrements.
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Interesting trivia, two accessions in ARS-Grin are named Monterrey, one from Spain and one from Nuevo Leon Mexico.
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Iām assuming the ones running around here are the North American version.