I based my pear selection on the varieties I enjoy eating and what @scottfsmith has recommended.
I don’t have a few varieties on your list. My list includes Docteur Desportes, Fondante de Moulin-Lille, Aurora, Potomac, Abbe Fetel, Seckel and Comice.
I have grafted too many Asian pears.
Bosc is actually Beurre Bosc It’s just typically not called by It’s proper name. The same as Beurré d’Anjou. The best varities did not come from a University they came from Jean Baptiste Van Mons many years ago who lived 11 November 1765 [Brussels] 6 September 1842 [Leuven] . To this day his work cannot be duplicated. Typically for sale we have anjou, bosc and Williams aka Bartlett pears in the grocery store. Modern pear breeders have yet to match the old pear breeders results. For more about Van Mons see this Jean-Baptiste Van Mons - Wikipedia . Many are under the impression it takes selective crosses to breed good pears but actually he planted lots of pears. To produce exceptional pears planting acres and acres and many thousands of different genetically diverse seeds is what it takes. I believe universities have added value to pear breeding. The pear harrow sweet and others from the harrow experimental station are proof of good breeding but the problem is the work is unfinished. We need a harrow sweet the size of d’Anjou. Williams’ bon chrétien aka bartlett was not bred at the university either. The origins of this variety are uncertain. “Bon Chrétien” (Good Christian) is named after Francis of Paola, a holy man whom King Louis XI of France had called to his deathbed as a healer in 1483. Francis offered the king a pear seed from his native Calabria with instructions to plant and care. Hence the pear tree was called “Good Christian”. The Williams pear is thought to date from 1765 to 1770 from the yard of an Aldermaston, England, schoolmaster named Mr. John Stair giving rise to the now-obscure synonyms ‘Aldermaston’ pear and ‘Stairs’ pear. A nurseryman named Williams later acquired the variety, and after introducing it to the rest of England, the pear became known as the Williams Pear. However, the pear’s full name is Williams’ Bon Chretien, or "Williams’ good Christian.
In 1799 James Carter imported several Williams trees into the United States, and they were planted on the grounds of Thomas Brewer in Roxbury, [Massachusetts]. The Massachusetts estate was later acquired by Enoch Bartlett of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Unaware of their origin, Bartlett named the pears after himself and introduced the variety into the United States. It was not realised that Bartlett and Williams Pears were the same until 1828, when new trees arrived from Europe By that time the Bartlett variety had become vastly popular in the United States, and they are still generally known as Bartlett pears in the US and Canada,
My pear picks have been partly things that I’ve seen people here recommend and partly things that I just decided to take a flyer on.
I think I grafted Potomac my first year doing this but it didn’t make it. Might try that one again - we like Anjou in terms of the pears we can get at the grocery store, and my understanding is that Potomac is similar in taste but easier to grow.
I decided to go with Magness over Comice thinking again that it would be easier to grow here. (Waffled between that and Warren.) I hope to track down Fondante de Moulin-Lille at some point.
When you say that you grafted too many Asian pears, do you mean that they haven’t done as well in our New England climate? I am generally less into Asian pears myself, though I’ve only had them from grocery stores, but I thought I’d include one for variety (and I think I remember you and others recommending Korean Giant).
Having found every Asian pear I’ve sampled to be rather flavorless, I decided not to plant any.
I meant I have only 3 Asian pear trees but put too many grafts on those trees.
@Lodidian - if you grow up with Euro pears, you may not care for crunchy, juicy, so what sweet Asian pears. Their taste are straight up, not complex. I love my Asian pears esp. Korean Giant. Once all my A pears fruited, I may get rid of several and keep only ones I like.
My guess was that your idea of too many grafts was different from mine.
I have tried to like them. Thinking maybe it was only store-bought Asian pears that were without flavor, a few years ago I did sample some grown by a friend. We did a swap at the end of farmers market. I don’t remember the variety, but to my tastebuds there was still only a hint of flavor. Maybe it is me, although my wife doesn’t much like them either.
@Lodidian
Try chojuro it’s exceptional with a strong flavor of butterscotch. @39thparallel and i ate 4 or 5 one year each trying to pinpoint the taste. The fruit was heavily damaged with lumps all over it but it was delicious. Drippin Honey is very good as well. Korean Giant when it does not run out of season can be good as well. To me a pear like ya li is not meant to have those flavors it’s crisp, light, and refreshing but not overly sweet, and there are as mentioned no complex flavors. I like to eat ice to in the summer but it is flavorless. There is some personal preferences that are not shared with others in terms of taste or texture of food. Pears like ya li are not likely going to be popular with most Americans. Some things are an acquired taste.
I’ll look for it.
I was looking at Winter Nellis as another classic late pear. Does anyone have it that can give it a thumbs up?
The old varieties are still the best with a few exceptions. Imo
My wife’s grandfather had Winter Nellis in his back yard. The tree was seriously decayed and nearly dead 2 years ago. I got 2 grafts onto Callery rootstock last year and have them growing. The original tree has had a bit of care since last year and has a few fruit set. I hope to try it later this year. Winter Nellis needs to be stored at least 3 or 4 weeks to mellow before eating.
As a variety collector (latest count about 130), I’ve discovered several pear varieties that are not generally grown or mentioned in these threads. I don’t read all so maybe some have been mentioned before.
Here are two that I really like:
Doyenne Gris - Medium to small size as I grow it - probably should be thinned more - it is quite productive. Very sweet and juicy and it will ripen on the shelf without refrigeration, but best if refrigerated for a few weeks. Noticeable grit cells near the core. I have only fruited it two years but have been favorably impressed. Original scions from Corvallis Repository.
Josephine de Malines - My favorite winter pear. Picked here in early to mid-Oct, stored in the refer at about 35 degrees F and enjoyed Dec, Jan and into early Feb. No core breakdown - good sugar-acid balance, nice size. Far superior to Winter Nellis that for me was small and scabby, with a difficult to manage tree which fire blighted so badly that I didn’t shed a tear when I cut it down to the ground!
Many of my pears are considered winter pears so they require after ripening in a very cool space or a refrigerator.
Good choices my Josephine De malinas is close to production. They sound delicious. Please post pictures if you get a chance.
You are in zone 9 and Josephine de Malines ripens for you in Oct, i don’t think I have a chance to ripen it here in zone 6a. I grafted it a few years ago.
Clark, You asked in Dec if anyone is growing Devoe. I have a good looking young tree with blooms this year. One of my good fruit growerfrinds in the local CRFG chapter rates it as his best pear and he has several good ones including Bartlett, Comice and Warren.
Actually I’m in zone 8a and in a frost pocket. We are considered coastal cool so our heat units may not be much different from yours. Summer night time temperatures are usually in the 50s but some days can be miserably hot but usually just for a day of so then back to high 70s and 80s. Morning temperatures this past week have been in the low 30s with one morning 29.
@clarkinks Have you tried Hosui? That one has a butterscotch-like flavor when it turns golden brown and is sugar sweet. Shinsui had a somewhat similar flavor and the texture is better than Chojuro in my opinion.
Our New England summer does not get very hot. When temp hits 90 or over for 3 days in a row, we call it a “ heat wave”. It happens only a couple of times a summer.
Although Clark and I are both in zone 6, his midwest spring and summer are hotter and for a longer time period, too. I’ve noticed that fruit in the midwest ripen 1-2 weeks ahead of us in New England.
Hosui never has reached it’s full flavor for me though many say it’s great. To many people tell me it’s good for me to not believe it’s good. Hosui in my experience are blan with sand paper like skin at my farm. Most pears overall grow good for me. My location like every location has a few pears that don’t grow as well as i.like.
@mayhaw9999
Please document as much information about it as you can. It’s mentioned many times but not much is documented The pears you may not have heard of and should consider growing - #161 by yri32
There’s more info on Josephine de Malines in this thread from a couple years ago - maybe @BobVance or @scottfsmith have an update?
@mayhaw9999: I’ve read that J de M can be a weak-growing tree - has that been your experience?