The recession in pear cultivation can be attributed to the difficulty of preserving the fruits and the sensitivity of certain varieties to fire blight. In the garden, it’s a little different: the demands are lower and this disease has only rarely appeared.
However, the rapid spread of this disease and the sensitivity of widespread ornamental plants justifies certain precautions in the garden: monitor your pear trees and avoid planting varieties that are too sensitive. Also remember that poor pollination can result in almost zero harvests.
An early one: Buttered Giffard
The tree : Average vigor, half-open habit. Medium flowering period. Pollination by Williams, Countess of Paris, Louise Bonne, Beurré Clairgeau. Grafts on quince tree.
The fruit : Melting, sweet and fragrant. Pale yellow epidermis with pink reflections. Maturities at the end of July-beginning of August. At this time, also remember Early Buttered Morettiniwith excellent fruits but unfortunately very fragile.
A late one: Peter Crow
The tree : Average vigor with semi-erect shape, early and regular fruit set. Can be grafted onto quince tree. Medium flowering period. Pollination by Passe Crassane, Conference, Williams, Highland And General Leclerc. Susceptible to scab.
The fruit : Medium, with orange-brown spots on a pale yellow background. Streaked with copper red on the side exposed to the sun. The flesh is firm, juicy and well flavored. Supports handling well but is sensitive to scab: bag it on the tree during rainy periods. Picked at the end of September, ripeness from October to December.
Other late arrivals: President Héron, Dean of the Comice, Beurré d’Anjou.
Pear rootstocks
- OHF 51 and OHF 333 : Coming from the same cross; low to medium vigor. They are very well adapted to limestone soils. Their suckers are not very sensitive to fire blight, without however giving the grafted variety any resistance to this disease. Avoid heavy, wet soils or plant on mounds.
- Cognassier d’Angers Sydo INFEL : Average vigor. Like all quince trees, it is not compatible with all varieties of pears. Avoid limestone soils. Not very sensitive to viruses.
- Cognassier de Provence BA 29 INFEL: Medium to strong vigor. Widely used, it does not slow down fruit set, and behaves well in calcareous soil.
- Frank Kirchensaller : Strong vigor, for difficult climates. Very slow fruit set of the grafted variety.