Plum and pear tree plans for zone 5; quinces?

16 years ago

Hello all -

I've been learning as much as I can from this forum and elsewhere, and have started picking out some fruit tree varieties for the back yard of my new home in Boulder, CO. I'd be grateful for any feedback you can give.

Background: We're on the eastern side of town, on the flats rather than the mountains at 5400'. According to the local soil map, and what little prospecting I've done, our soil is clay loam over sandy clay loam. There is a stream about 200 yards away (perhaps 10-12' below our yard grade), so I'd suspect the water table is relatively high here. The yard currently contains several healthy crabapples, a healthy willow (that will come out due to it being too close to the house) and several dying aspens (they don't like the low altitude).

I'm planning on planting the following trees, three to a hole at 10 to 15 foot intervals, along a south-facing 6' tall fence. I hope to keep them under 10' tall by summer pruning.

Pears (all on OHxF333, from Trees of Antiquity)

Comice

Seckel

Warren

Plums #1 (on St Julien; from One Green World)

Imperial Epineuse

Pearl

Shropshire Damson

Plums #2 (on Myrobalan; from Cummins)

Greengage

Oullins

Geneva Mirabelle

I've selected them for late blooming (due to frosts to mid-May), good for cooking and fresh eating, and relative resistance to fire blight. Also, the Oullins gets mixed reviews on the flavor, but I'm thinking of keeping it as a pollinizer for the green gage and as understock for trying to graft a couple of other gages. I'd also like to graft some additional pear varieties on the pears as well.

Any thoughts?

On a related note, I've given a little thought to putting two fruiting quinces in another corner. They're allegedly hardy to Zone 5; some research I saw at Cornell says they survive to -25F, though blossoms may be winter killed at -15, but it only gets down that far once a decade or so here. Anyone growing quinces in zone 5, and how have they fared?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Ian

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Comments (12)

theaceofspades
16 years ago
Ian,

OHxF333 rootstock pears sold by Trees of Antiquity are probably grown by Dave Wilson Nursery. Warren pears are sold out in Trees of Antiquity.

While they are the best eating pears, Seckle and Comice are very slow growers.

The extreme upright growth of pear trees makes three in a hole a difficult proposition. Three in a hole might stunt the growth. But, semi pears can be spaced closer together. I am actually moving pears closer to 7' apart, to get a few more in the bright sunshine.
ianb_co
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Ace! I'll reconsider the spacing on the pears. I already have the order in with Trees of Antiquity, so I should be good on the Warren pear. Thanks again!

Ian
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alan haigh
16 years ago
Ace, why do you assume T A pears are from Dave Wilson? I thought Neil propigated all of his trees.
ianb_co
Original Author
16 years ago
I think Ace may be correct about the pears coming from another source; the pears I've ordered are not certified organic, whereas I think their own trees are all grown organically.

Ian
theaceofspades
16 years ago
harvestman,

Dave Wilson Nursery grows several million fruit trees a year. You can only buy these through resellers. I got DWN trees from a Naturehills in Nebraska last season. They grew good. The leaves did not drop like all the other trees, they froze off. So I am wondering if the were acclimated to a longer growing season. I ordered late so my local sources were sold out. Last wednesday Scottsmith posted he got Dave Wilson Nursery Trees from Trees of Antiquity. I put a link to that thread below. DWN grows their Warren pear on OHxF333 rootstock. PeacefulValley is also sold out of Warren
Pear and so is Trees of Antiquty. Better call Neil..

Here is a link that might be useful: Best fesh prune fruit
Scott F Smith
16 years ago
Harvestman, I have gotten pears from ToA which were tagged Dave Wilson. They grow most of the apples themselves but many of the others are not.

I think your choices are generally good for your climate, Ian. The Comice is a hard pear to grow from what I hear, nearly impossible out east but maybe better for you. I consider Magness the best pear overall. It is Seckel x Comice. It is a better grower than either and is in the same taste category.

Green Gage is supposedly self-fertile. I agree with your assessment of Oullins from what I've read but never tried it myself.

I don't know anything about quince in zone 5 but factoring in the global warming odds I would say go for it.

Scott
ianb_co
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Scott. I know that Comice will be a pain, but I hope that it will pay off. We do have fire blight in this area, but no curculio (fingers crossed). Hopefully, some sulfur and surround will be enough.

I'd thought about Magness, but went for Warren instead, since Magness is (from what I read) sterile and Warren is thought to be very similar in flavor and blight resistance. On the other hand, I've also read that Warren can be shy. Well, I'll find out 2015!

Ian
jkring
16 years ago
Maple Valley Orchards in Wisconsin has several pear varieties that they graft and raise onsite. I don't know where they get their plums. You'd have to contact them. The bareroot pears I bought from them have done great in 4b/5 for me in Green Bay, WI. Good luck. Our favorite is Clapps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maple Valley Orchards
alan haigh
16 years ago
Thanks all for the info about Dave Wilson plants. I don't grow anything from that nursery so I was ignorant that they are the sole propigators of their varieties. Most of their stuff does terrible in our climate from my experience and I don't like low-acid fruit except in plums.
ianb_co
Original Author
16 years ago
I don't think that DW is the only source for their varieties - not like Stark Bros. that own the rights to a lot of their cultivars - but it looks like there aren't all that many nurseries that are grafting Warren on OHxF333. It will be interesting to see how the DW trees adjust to Colorado.

As for Maple Valley, I'll likely order from them in the future, at least for apple scions (I've changed my order with Cummins to add three apples - Cox's Orange, Northern Spy and Ashmead's Kernel).

Ian
nick_b79
16 years ago
I'm actually going to take a chance with a quince or two from Oikos Trees this spring, and I'm located in zone 4. They claim their ECOS strain is hardy down to -30F. I'll be planting mine in a well-protected location for sure. They're small but cheap, so if they don't work out, oh well. It might be something you'd like to try out as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oikos - Common Quince
ianb_co
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Nick - I have a quince (smyrna) coming from trees of antiquity - let us know how the Oikos tree gets along!

Ian

Plum and pear tree plans for zone 5; quinces?

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Plum and pear tree plans for zone 5; quinces?

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