Wild callery pear rootstocks

Bartlett is a great tasting pear but it is such a FB magnet in my area I would not graft or plant it. I think it grows well in many locations.

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[quote=ā€œClothAnnie, post:99, topic:3490ā€]
This is what I bought.
[/quote]As you can see all they sell are seedlings.

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Bartlett seedlings are typically disease magnets but if you graft them with a FB resistant pear they will be ok. I would recommend the sooner the better. Iā€™ve been really busy this year so I did not cut as many Scions as normal.

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After reading this I wondered if there was any point to keeping them. Maybe I can graft them soon. I will be in touch, @Auburn. I am up for practicing. Would it be better to try grafting onto the callery

or onto one of my Bartlett seedings?

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On what age wood do the thorns disappear? The presence of the thorns and their subsequent disappearance makes perfect sense from an adaptation standpoint. While young, it prevents forage damage on a young canopy ā€“ and later the lack of thorns makes foraging easier so fruit can be spread by wildlife.

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The thorns are there actually at the height 5ā€™ and under for awhile 7+ years. That will not be the case on a grafted tree. The thorns are never there above 6ā€™ . The tree I grow is 20ā€™+ so picking pears is easy because there is no thorns there. Itā€™s an excellent tree. It sends suckers out on its own roots as well. If grafted you wonā€™t see the true strategy of the tree. Those pears all around the mother tree are thorny which I cut out every year.

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I just found callery scions available through ars https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1436044

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There are 111 available from ars and this one could be added to the cart now, hmmmm https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1536640 I am surprised maybe this is an error I thought scion could not be requested again until like autumn 2017

PS
Search the ars for Pyrus calleryana after xing include unavailable

At the risk of looking like I have a disorder this might be the ideal time to admit that I added three scions of Callery pears onto an Orient pear. Looking for another early blooming variety to help with cross pollination.

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I thought about doing the same thing auburn. My harrow delight was the first thing to bloom this year. I did notice that an old pear tree at the end of our road bloomed about the same time. Maybe I will ask for a stick off of it next year. It is an old tree and does get some fire blight but it has survived for a long time ,it was a big tree when we moved here 21 years ago.

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@alanmercieca Iā€™m missing something or I 'm confused. She has all kinds of wild callery pears and she wants to get rid of them and/or graft many over with fruiting wood. Why would she possibly want to buy callery pear scion to graft onto her callery pears?

ALso, for Bill and Jason, I didnā€™t think most Callery pears could be pollinators, and thats why bees donā€™t work them- little or no viable pollen. So grafting them onto a tree for early pollination wouldnā€™t work. Is that not the case?

[quote=ā€œthecityman, post:111, topic:3490ā€]
Iā€™m missing something or I 'm confused. She has all kinds of wild callery pears and she wants to get rid of them and/or graft many over with fruiting wood. Why would she possibly want to buy callery pear scion to graft onto her callery pears?
[/quote]Ars is either totally free or at the most it cost shipping. There are lots of people on here interested in callery root stock, and like has been said on one of these callery threads not all callery have the same compatibility with the same varieties of pears, that is why I shared the links.

Callery are actually pollinators for other pears. In most cases I would use other choices because I would be concerned they would be to good of pollinators and it would pollinate everyoneā€™s flowering pears in the area resulting in to many seedlings.

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Graft over everything including bartlett seedlings and the callery pears. It will be great practice.

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Ah. Okā€¦no problem. And you may be rightā€¦perhaps some people actually want new callery scion wood. Here (at least some varieties) are practically weeds and its hard to imagine me wanting to order someā€¦but Bill and now Clark have shown it does indeed have value as a pollinator.

I was still focused on the OP and what she was trying to accomplish, and thought your answer to her looking for wood was to give her links to Callery scion. Thatā€™s why I got confused. Sorry. Thanks.

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[quote=ā€œthecityman, post:115, topic:3490, full:trueā€]
Ah. Okā€¦no problem. And you may be rightā€¦perhaps some people actually want new callery scion wood. Here (at least some varieties) are practically weeds and its hard to imagine me wanting to order someā€¦but Bill and now Clark have shown it does indeed have value as a pollinator.

I was still focused on the OP and what she was trying to accomplish, and thought your answer to her looking for wood was to give her links to Callery scion. Thatā€™s why I got confused. Sorry. Thanks.
[/quote]Some people find great value in what appears to be a blight immunity on at least some of the callery plants, also some of the callery seems more weed like than others. Wild plants often make great pollinators if they flower at a good time.

Actually I can see that I used quote when I did not mean to, after all itā€™s not like itā€™s a guaranteed thing that she needed those links. This forum is unique and I am still trying to get used to it. No problem.

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Bill has very kindly sent me not just two varieties, as Iā€™d thought, but four varieties of scions!! They came today and I had just enough time after evening chores to work on cutting off the extra ā€œtrunks.ā€ This is what Iā€™ve got left of the first callery pear experimental tree. Any advice? I have read about a ā€œnursingā€ branch- the lowest one, maybe? I have 13 scions to place. I could also put some on my Bartlett seedlings. Will get a pic of those in a second here. Hereā€™s the callery (sort of front/back pics).

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I never got new pics of my Bartlett seedlings tonight- these are from Monday, but no new growth; still dormant. I wonder if thereā€™s any use in grafting onto them or if my efforts are better spent on the Callery tree. I donā€™t think these will have the vigor of the callery as I planted them in spring of 2014 as 1yo saplings and theyā€™re still rather small (did get ā€œcoppicedā€ by my husbandā€™s accidental mowing):


I noticed that the blooms that had juust started to come out in the callery appear killed from the recent blast of cold weā€™ve had. Any thoughts on what that might mean for grafting? We have had very odd later winter/ premature spring weather. Iā€™m in northern va and donā€™t think these flowering pears normally flower that early. Anyway, I recently re-read to wait until temps are in the 70sā€¦ The highest temps I see in the 14 day forecast are in the low 60s and those are at the end of the two weeksā€™ forecast. So I guess I should let the scions hang out in my crisper drawer longer?

Iā€™m almost embarrassed but am compelled to post my attempt pics!! I think our coldest blasts are past and hope I at least waited for decent weather. I was stumped as to where else to cut on my thorny callery pear as I fear and despise the thorns. So I really topped off almost the entire thing, leaving two very small branches. I then cut off the larger of the two and did a cleft graft attempt on it. So thereā€™s only one very small original branch and six rind(?) grafts and seven cleft grafts. My phone dies when itā€™s lower than 55 degrees or so and I only got a couple of pics. I had two orient scions left and ended up cleft grafting them onto my Bartlett seedlings. I figure that at least if anything takes Iā€™ll have another shot to take more scions from it next winter. I tried melting a candle to seal but that was quite a flop. I used electrical tape around but am guessing I didnā€™t seal well enough and wonder if the cuts will dry outā€¦ This pic was before I got the tape around. Iā€™m really fearing that I left the cut areas too exposed. Any point in trying to seal them now, 16+ hours after the grafting?

one pic of when Iā€™d just done the rind?/bark? grafts and one of a cleft graft on my Bartlett seedling. The two inch strip of tape is attempting to hold the bark on as I accidentally totally ripped it off! I was just getting the feel for where the cambium later was. Itā€™ll be a miracle if anything takes but Iā€™m thankful for the chance to try.

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