So I have a theory that a pear sold to me as a Kieffer many years ago is a winter Nellis. The fruit is green and medium sized. Winter Nellis at that time was a common rootstock. I know I never had tip die back or problems. I suspect the Arbor Day society may have grafted 1000s and did not notice they missed one. So the top right box of pears is the suspect winter Nellis. That picture was taken as you can see when the Bartlett’s ripen which is July or August here depending on the year. Since they ripen together that may help with identification.
So you might ask why I even care it tastes good , it does not get Fireblight what else could I want? Rootstocks are a good possibility because it suckers like crazy which is bad and good.
Those suckers even though they are a problem to cut off could have a pot slipped around them filled with dirt and I think will grow roots in a year or so. In theory by this time next year I could have 10 winter Nellis to plant out as rootstock or as care free pears. Again you might ask why I care? It’s because I have a spot close to my ponds where I absolutely won’t use spray. If I can make this variety work close to the water I will have bumpers crops of pears where currently I can’t grow anything. I don’t want to eat fish full of insecticide and fungicides. A no spray pear is always nice. Looks like it will have another bumper crop next year
Does anyone grow Winter Nellis and have a picture of the fruit? Like I mentioned the rootstock would be fantastic to because certain varieties of pears work very well with that rootstock. I don’t mind trimming off a few suckers. You saw in the picture above I already have a few pots in place. Will I get by with this? I did find this link describing winter nellis http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=222. I read the description and it looks like the ripening time is wrong.
Matt,
Thanks that helps me to confirm it’s not winter Nellis. I’m not sure I will ever know what it is. I’m not sure that changes my plans either to use it by the ponds. If anyone has winter Nellis scions can you send me a couple?
Thanks Matt maybe Lizzy has more to share this year. I would be glad to pay shipping charges if she has some or if someone else has some spares to trade or sell.
You keep taking about pears got me wanting to eat some. I bought some D’ Anjou pears and to my surprise they were creamy, juicy, and sweet. Soft ripened.
Those look good Tony. We have been eating a lot of canned ones. We got some gala apples at the store that were wonderful. I think before winter is over the people with cold storage full of apples and pears will be moving more and it’s only going to get better for those of us buying. I’m afraid to raise gala and Fuji for fear of FB but I love them. I have heard Fireblight can be a problem with many of the varieties they raise up north. Same with the pears I love to eat like Bosc. Fruitnuts Bosc harvest pictures had my mouth watering.
My mother in law used to have a 12 yrs old Bosc pear tree at her old house in Omaha. I did not see any disease on the tree. Very nice looking leaves and tasty russet fruits though.
Just FYI, here are some of my Winter Nelis pears. They are not the prettiest pears! The one on the far right is abnormally large for a Nelly, but I culled heavily this year for various reasons, so the remaining pears got quite big. Also, the blobs of wax on the stems are there to keep them from losing moisture through the stem during the long stretch of cold storage. It seems to work pretty well.