As your likely aware @39thparallel and I frequently give each other backups of ultra rare pears. Saint Nicolas is one such pear 39th parallel very rare pears . Blooms are setting but we will have to wait and see today is April 9th. There are many people waiting to see this pear and learn more about it.
Still waiting on Treasure too. I think my St Nicolas may have had one pear a couple years ago but, it disappeared before I could sample it.
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It would surprise me if these produce fruit but it seems determined to try. There are alot of blossoms on that small tree.
Thanks for having me out today and for allowing me to try this exceedingly rare pear. Itâs a very unique taste due to the tartness. It is more tart than any pear i have had. In some cases thats very valuable for fruit to have tartness. Cooking would be very blan if every pear was bosc or clara frijs. Most people have never heard of Saint Nicolas let alone seen it or ate it. Appreciate the oppurtunity to do that!
No one can say much about this pear for sure unfortunately. My suspicion is only 39thparallel has grown it to fruit. All that said a pear this tart is valuable in many ways for cooking. The appearance reminds me of a bae pear.
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I wasnât expecting round !
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Saint Nicholas is very rare! Its a pear that came to most of us by way of the Nick Botner collection. Who knows if it is SAINT NICHOLAS. The description is even more obscure but here is what we know " SAINT NICHOLAS Found as St. Nicholas in the collection of Nick Botner in Oregon, he kindly sent scions in 2010. This pear has variously been known as Duchesse DâOrlĂ©ans, BeurrĂ© St. Nicholas and other names, and there is some confusion as to whether they are all the same. Saint Nicholas was first noted in Britain in 1826, in the LHS collection at Chiswick. All these pears are now missing. Scott says BeurrĂ© St. Nicolas was a wilding discovered at St. Nicolas, Angers, France, first fruiting in 1839. Hogg gives no origin, calling it Duchesse DâOrlĂ©ans, while giving the other names as synonyms. Scottâs and Hoggâs descriptions vary in the season of ripening Scott says âone of the best of early pearsâ, ripening in September, while Hogg says it ripens in October. They agree that it is a large, dessert pear, with sweet, juicy, melting flesh. Ours, as with Scott, ripens in September and is very melting and fine fleshed, juicy and sweet with a caramel flavour. We welcome its return to Britain.**" according to Pear Trees 6 - Historic Varieties Grown and Supplied by Bernwode Fruit Trees .
I have a Saint Nicholas i got from @39thparallel several years ago. Its growing in clay soil on callery rootstock in much less than an ideal place and doing fine. Thought i would offer some kind of description since like the pear it may dissapear by the next time someone searches for it.
Here is yet another description
" Description- This section is from âThe Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Tasteâ, by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
The Duchesse DâOrleans Pear. Beurre St. Nicholas
The Duchesse dâOrleans is ranked unanimously, as far as we are informed by those who have tested it in this country, as one of the best new varieties from abroad. It was first introducd by Mr. Kenrick, and noticed in the seventh edition of his American Orchardist. It was first fruited by Robert Manning, of Salem, and within two or three years past in several parts of the country. It is figured and described in the first volume of Hoveyâs Fruits of America. Withal, we have not been able to trace its origin, and we are inclined to think it is from Germany. It has fruited in our collection three years. The first year we formed a poor opinion of it, but we found afterwards that we injured it by leaving it too long on the tree. Our colored plate was made from a specimen grown by H. P. Norton, Esq., of Brockport, N. Y., who has had it in bearing for two or three years, and we believe thinks highly of it."
This pear is loaded with blooms again this year. There may be more than one pear called this
" Description
This section is from âThe Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Tasteâ, by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
The Duchesse DâOrleans Pear. Beurre St. Nicholas
The Duchesse dâOrleans is ranked unanimously, as far as we are informed by those who have tested it in this country, as one of the best new varieties from abroad. It was first introducd by Mr. Kenrick, and noticed in the seventh edition of his American Orchardist. It was first fruited by Robert Manning, of Salem, and within two or three years past in several parts of the country. It is figured and described in the first volume of Hoveyâs Fruits of America. Withal, we have not been able to trace its origin, and we are inclined to think it is from Germany. It has fruited in our collection three years. The first year we formed a poor opinion of it, but we found afterwards that we injured it by leaving it too long on the tree. Our colored plate was made from a specimen grown by H. P. Norton, Esq., of Brockport, N. Y., who has had it in bearing for two or three years, and we believe thinks highly of it.
At the Philadelphia Pomolo-gical Convention last autumn it was favorably spoken of by Mr. Walker, Mr. Wilder, Mr. Ho-vey, Mr. Saul, and others; and would have been placed upon the list for general cultivation, only that it was not sufficiently known. It remains on the list of those that promise well.
Fruit - large, average specimens being about 3 1/2 inches long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter at the widest part. Form - oblong pyr-iform, slightly contracted above the middle, and tapering gradually to the stalk, which is fleshy at the base. Stalk - somewhat variable in length, from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches, pretty stout, and usually enlarged at the extremity. Calyx - small, open, shallow, nearly on the surface. Color - greenish yellow, marked frequently with a delicate russet tint, lightly tinged with red in the sun - often a rich bright red - very beautiful. Flesh - melting and juicy, with a delicate and agreeable perfume. We have picked it quite hard and ripened it in the house on the 25th of September, and we think we never had it in a better condition; but its usual season here is the first two weeks in October. It should always be picked in good season and ripened off in the house
"
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