Pears, If you were to pick just 3?

[H20fwler]

We have picked our top three apples in another thread, I wanted to see what you’re go-to pears are.

I know we are from a broad area across the nation so it should be interesting to see what works for others in their area.
Like apples pears have literally hundreds of varieties and definitely have a place in a wildlife soft mast orchard and on the table for us to eat.
I know that it is a lot tougher to get pears to fruit the further north we go but to me pears are so much easier to grow, less maintenance and wildlife absolutely eat them up. I literally have deer bedding under my pears waiting for the wind to blow them off.

I am very partial to pears and have put in a couple dozen varieties.
My top three picks;

Korean Giant/Olympic
Gilmer Christmas
Keiffer

 

[bwoods11]

I’ve never had Pears make it in Minnesota. However, I might revisit planting some. I’d like to get feedback on top Pears in Iowa.

 

[gunfun13]

Hopefully I'll have a good idea in 3 or 4 years. I have a couple dozen young pear trees, none have produced more than a handful of fruit yet.

Kieffer has been best grower. Morse Hybrid has produced most fruit and it holds fairly late. I'm most excited about Blue Hill Advent.

 

[H20fwler]

Pears that are supposed to be good to zone 2
At least they grow them in Alaska and Russia

Early Gold
Gifford
Nova
Hudar
Golden Spice
Simon
Ure
The apostle pears-Peter/Andrew/Thomas
Krasnobokaya
Radchinska
Larynskaya

Most on Pyrus/Purus rootstock

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Dang it you guys after reading this I had to hop on blue hills website and wouldn’t you know they still have some Korean giant pears in stock..one will now be residing in my fruit tree plot come spring..all I can add to this thread is that I have a 2.5 yr old Kieffer that is 14’ tall and a D’anjou that took a huge growth leap in its 2nd year in the ground and is still over 10’ tall on marginal soils..can’t wait till they start producing ..

 

[hunts_with_stick]

I just got my first crop of asian pears this year. Absolutely love the crispness, white flesh, juiciness. My Keiffwrs were loaded. But lost them all due to a frost

 

[Rubee]

Hunts with stick. Where are your Asian pears planted? What zone, specie of pear and drop time please?

 

[Kdog]

I will never plant another pear tree, that said, Kieffer and Moonglow grow rather well down here where I am in the south.

 

[Catscratch]

I will never plant another pear tree, that said, Kieffer and Moonglow grow rather well down here where I am in the south.

Why not? I've recently said the same about apples...

 

[bigboreblr]

My stuff is young too. But, pears have produced more growth than my apples trees have put on. Bartlet, Kiefer, and gin pear. Not sure if the deer will eat gin pear, they're for pearry production, or to sweeten up hard apple cider. Seckel is growing well in my nursery too. Think I might be giving that one away to a coworker in the spring though.

kieffer is touted to be a great deer pear, they drop in october into november. Added plus is it's very easy to source at a local nursery, and at reasonable prices.

Seems folks in zones 8 and 9 have more luck growing pears than apple trees. My interest in adding a few pears aren't deer related though. Famiy likes pears and saturn peaches. Thats why theyre in my backyard.

 

[Dantana]

I’m still 3-4 years away from contributing to this thread. Planted my first pears in 2020 - those 3 have finally added decent growth and will maybe push out a few fruit in 2024.

Second batch was planted in 2022 - 2 Korean Giants from Blue Hill. Not much growth so far but healthy looking trees.

Third group was planted this past spring, a 7 tree pear orchard. All from Blue Hill - Keiffer, Sweet Advent, and Harvest pear.

Overall, they all look great and healthy. But not much growth to speak of. Definitely behind the apples and crabs. I’m most excited about the Sweet Advents.

 

[Kdog]

Why not? I've recently said the same about apples...

Down here in GA, we struggle with either late frost that wipes everything out, or an overabundance of crops that break nearly every branch on the trees. In good years, we find a balance, but this is once every 5-6 years or so.

If I had it to do all over again, I would only plant persimmons down here. Focusing on them this year.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

Hunts with stick. Where are your Asian pears planted? What zone, specie of pear and drop time please?

zone 6. Olympic giant, ripens in Sep/Oct.

 

[Native Hunter]

Senator Clark seems to be less prone than all the others I grow to freezing out in the spring. It has great disease resistance too. So I would place it as number one.

Second and third choice would be Kieffer and Moonglow.

All this could change when my Blue Hill pears come into production.

 

[willy]

I'm in zone 5b. Kieffer is first choice, trophy pears, and asian pears. These all seem to handle late frosts very well. The asian pears are my favorite pear to eat and I the varieties I have ripen in late August, Sept, and Oct. I have some varieties I planted in 20' that I got from Turkey Creek that are supposed to drop in Nov and Dec. that he got for me through another nursery. I'm looking forward to what they do when they start producing. They have grown very well.

Deer and other critters were still eating pears from the trophy pears in December. There was still fruit hanging dec. 21, not much but there was some and I watched deer go to the trees to eat what was on the ground and stare at what was in the tree yet. A coyote came in after legal shooting hours and looked around the tree for any pears left. I got many pics of deer and coyotes with a mouth full of pear this year.

The trophy set so much fruit that limbs will break in heavy winds. I've rolled the dice twice and lost both times but the trees just keep throwing out more branches and producing loads of fruit. They were planted in 2013 and have been producing lots of fruit for past six years.

 

[Ikeman]

Down here in GA, we struggle with either late frost that wipes everything out, or an overabundance of crops that break nearly every branch on the trees. In good years, we find a balance, but this is once every 5-6 years or so.

If I had it to do all over again, I would only plant persimmons down here. Focusing on them this year.

My problem with persimmons is most improved varieties don’t freely fall. They are useless up on the branches. I haven’t planted any pears yet, but found a feral one on public land in southern Oklahoma. The thing is a MAGNATE on good years, but it is feast or famine like you described.


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[H20fwler]

Senator Clark and Trophy are two I do not have planted....going to have to look into those.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

WE have 3 pear trees planted at camp - 2 Kieffer and 1 Morse hybrid pear (whatever that is). They've been planted for about 8 years now. We've gotten fruit on all of them, but I fear they won't survive because of our bear population. Sugary pears will draw bear like magnets. The Kieffers grow more upright and produce big pears - the Morse hybrid pear tree is more of a rounded canopy, and it bears rounded fruit about 2" in diameter. ------- That's all I have on pears.

 

[bigboreblr]

Anyone ever tried chemical thinning?

I thought maybe getting this tool will help thin out my young trees in a few years, but they don't recommend it on apples or pears.

https://www.grandpasorchard.com/Tree/Z-CINCH