My Winter Nelis graft sets fruit for the first time this year (about 5-6 pears). Today, 2 fell to the ground. I don’t want to blame squirrels because there are other pears hanging on lower branches on that tree. Why would squirrels need to jump or climb higher for Winter Nelis?
Anyway, I wonder if anyone could tell me when Winter Nelis ripens in zone 6. I don’t know if these are close to ripen. If they are not, i wonder why they dropped.
@clarkinks and co.?
The winter nellis i have is not producing yet though grafted many years ago.
The name pretty much says not this early. The photo suggests it may not be WN. Check the seeds, if they are brown, that probably seals it. Harrow Delight might be starting to drop now. I have a worthless brain when it comes to physical memory, but they may be that shape. I have a few on my tree so I’ll check them this AM.
Welcome to the wonderful world of amateur grafting, where generous souls often share mis-identified wood.
Two plums could scarcely be less alike then Damson and Methely- except that they both tend to overbear and have similar shape and color. They ripen at opposite ends of the season and one is a E.plum while the other a J. One is highly astringent- even when ripe and almost exclusively used as a culinary plum while the other doesn’t even have much acid or flavor besides sweet once it is ripe- Never heard of anyone trying to make tarts with the wet things.
Most of us are not as disciplined or well organized as Scott. Personally, I lose track of my tree’s identities on a regular basis because once a label breaks off, it is left to my declining memory.
Pretty sure the wood I’ve sent you is accurate, though. I try not to send out any graft wood I’m not sure about one way or another. I may send something I can’t identify, but unless the nursery screws up, I probably won’t send something out mis-identified. Don’t bet your house on it, though.
Well, that’s too bad ( again). I think Harrow Delight is not this red. I had it long time ago from a farm stand. I also have a HD graft that set fruit this year.
Yup, exchange scionwoodhas it pros and cons. I am sure everyone I have exchanged with did not intentionally send me wrong varieties. I probably unintentionally sent out wrong scionwood, too, esp. earlier in my days of scion exchange ( done before my trees or grafts set fruit (for verification). What I sent you are true to varieties ( per nursery)
You may suspect that my Castleton may not be a correct variety but I think it is 
I’m pretty sure your Castleton is legit. It’s Valor that Adams misidentified and used some other plum that ripens with Castleton and is slightly better (side by side). I get confused sometimes and forget it’s their Valor that is wrong.
I have a customer who had me install one of these Valors which I put a castleton graft on so even without a physical memory I was able to compare the two varieties conclusively.
What is strange is that I can’t identify the fake Valor- such a good plum shouldn’t be rare. It seems not to be quite as reliable a setter as Castleton, though.
I am more forgetful than you. Is Adam County’s Valor a fake one? I think I got scionwood from @BobVance who bought it from ACN.
They set decently for me. Among my E plums nothing set as crazily as Opal and Mirabelle.
@scottfsmith, you grow Winter Nelis, right?
Do you have picture of them? When do your WN ripen, please?
I am pretty sure mine is not correct as it is way too early.
@Lizzy -you are another person growing Winter Nelis . Love to hear your thought aboutit.
Valor tends to ripen in Sept. Fake Valor ripens with Castleton and is a much smaller plum- Castletons size, but rounder.
Mine was in a too-shady spot and never fruited. I got sick of pruning it for 15 years all for nothing, and took it out last winter. I was going to graft it to something else but didn’t end up doing so.
15 years!!! You are a very patient man.
The longest I waited was about 6 years for my Honey Crisp. I don’t have your patience
I picked the last two mislabeled pears. Both were overripe!!!
On 7/3, 3 dropped. I put 2 in the fridge for a week. The 3rd on the counter. I cut them today. All had internal rot, some more than the others. Flesh had no grits but not melting.
Whatever it is, It has one positive - early ripening. The negatives are small size, mediocre taste, prone to rot (could be because I let them hang too long).
I’ll see how it’ll perform next year. If it repeats this performance, it will be removed.
Hi Mamuang! Winter Nelis has to be chilled for a month–but not as cold as most pears. After that, it is truly delicious! It’s a very smooth fleshed dessert pear. Right up there with Warren. It looks like a gnarled and russeted little rock, but who cares, when it tastes so good. BUT… when grown here in California, the tree’s leaves and fruit are vulnerable to just about every pathogen, including black spot and the corky stuff. (The only positive is that even though it gets small fireblight strikes, they don’t seem to spread.) It might be different where you are though. But it’s such a hassle to deal with that, much as I LOVE the pears, I’ve pretty much grafted my tree over to other cultivars, resulting in a prettier, less blighted tree.
Lizzy,
Thanks for your response. Your description confirmed that mine were not Winter Nelis. Mine had smooth skin and ripen early. Whatever it is, it has little appeal to me so far.
