Pears

Wow!  Jackpot!  Dan Dean and Laura Kelly turned me onto this one.  It’s a huge (as big as Korean Giant) European X Asian cross from Oklahoma, mid-1960s.  Dan and Laura’s Turnbull tree was between two Asian pears that were both riddled with fireblight.  Turnbull was clean as a whistle even though it was just a …

Kim Kapity of Lincoln, AR, introduced us to this chance find on her farm.  She’s had it for 25 years without serious fireblight problems, but just as importantly, it’s excellent!  We know nothing of the heritage, but the shape suggests that it’s a chance European X Asian cross, but has none of the grittiness of …

An old southern heirloom from Georgia.  Successfully grown across the South for over a century only because it is highly blight resistant.  Like the old Keiffer, it’s a hybrid of the European pear and the Asian sand pear, so it can be gritty if not cured or cooked.  The pineapple flavor, to be honest, only …

A 1960 USDA release for fireblight resistance; it has a long track record of good to excellent resistance!  Earlier than Bartlett, but otherwise similar in texture and flavor.

Possibly the sweetest European-type pear (rivals Magness, of which Seckel is a parent), and thus sometimes called “the Sugar Pear.”  It’s only moderately resistant to fire blight, but I always keep one or two going on the farm because it is so darn good.  If blight occurs, simply prune out as it occurs or during …

-Sold out- Sibly, Kansas, 1880. Often recommended for the South.  This mostly-red, smallish pear keeps rising in my estimation. Ayers trees come into bearing quickly (three years from planting) and have cranked out relatively large crops for such young trees. I have seen virtually no fire blight on Ayers through several severe fire blight years. …

As blight resistant as Shinko, but a very large tree with grapefruit-size fruit! Bronze skin with white lenticels (spots). Very sweet, crisp, a real crowd pleaser.

Highly blight resistant. Small tree that tends to overbear (thin fruits to correct this “fault”). Tender, golden skin, crisp, sweet and with a hint of citrus. Highest quality!

Another “modern” (introduced by the USDA in 1968, it was named in honor of Dr. John R. Magness, long-time director of the USDA’s apple and pear breeding program). From a cross of Comice with Seckel, this pear is superb!! And very blight resistant. When cured, it is a buttery-honeyed, eat-over-the-sink marvel. It is slow to …

A USDA breeding program release. Lumpy, “heirloom-looking” fruit (though it was released in the 1990s) with distinctive russet on the bottom. I like the way it looks, but Potomac is to beauty what Tommy Lee Jones is to handsome! Best when cured, and then very good indeed! Very blight resistant.

A European type that doesn’t necessarily require “curing” (see above). Very vigorous, very fireblight-resistant tree. Big harvests of large fruit, year after year. We always get Maxines no matter what!