Summer and winter european pears

Can anyone point me to a chart or list that show which european pears are summer and which are winter pears? I did a google search but i can only find the ripening time of different varieties not really answering if they are summer pear that can be eaten fresh off tree without storage and winter pear requiring cold storage to fully ripen ? thank you!

@scottfsmith posted this on Growing fruit some time ago:

As a generalization, most pears that mature in August can be eaten directly off the tree. From early to mid-Sept there is a mix of tree ripening and cold-ripening. After that, they will need cold ripening. I think that all pears benefit from some time in refigeration, even the August maturing varieties.

2 Likes

Ubileen and Petrivka would be two early pears you eat fresh off the tree.

1 Like

I’ve had much success ripening Potomac and Harrow Sweet on the counter, with no cold storage.

Are there really late winter pears where you can get away with that? I mean, not where it’s the ideal, but where they’d be good enough for home use in the winter?

Comtesse de Paris is one of those. We pick it in October and it ripens after a month at room temperature and lasts until February if stored in an unheated room/larder/garage.

1 Like