Winter Nellis Pear identification needed for producing rootstock and fruit

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.

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Clark,

DWN has a photo of Winter Nelis. I do not own the image, so will just post the link here:

http://www.davewilson.com/product-information/product/winter-nelis-pear

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?

Clark,

I got my Winter Nelis from @Lizzy. Mine is newly budded so I have none to share yet, sorry.

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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.

If your search comes up cold, sometimes Sanhedrin (Calif) sells it on OHF.333. And sometimes Maple Valley (Wisc) sells budsticks of it.

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Clark,

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.

Tony

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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.

Clark,

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.

Tony

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Maybe they are worth a try in our area. Might be surprised. I get away with growing Bartlett most of the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL5P6NUvW3s

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Alcedo,
They look really good but nothing like what I’m growing. I’m adding them to my list of pears I need. Thank you

Matt,
Maple valley is not taking orders or does not have prices up yet but if it’s available I will just get a couple of sticks from them. Thanks

Their website says they’ll start taking scionwood orders in January 2016.

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I will have some extra Winter Nelis—you can pm me.

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Clark, I am already sending you some stuff and will throw WN in. Its one tree away from where I will be cutting already :smile:

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Thanks Scott I really appreciate that.

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.

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Whoa, Nelly !!!

By appearances alone-- Looks like if Bosc and D’Anjou had a kid, it would be Winter Nelis.