HI rovabay welcome to your new obsession. Santa Rosa is an excellent choice as a self pollinator. That was my first producing tree and there was no other plum anywhere near. Fruit was not large, and also few in quantity, but that's what happens without cross pollination. Now that she has a mate I have to thin out 90% of the baby plums or I get cherry sized fruit. One caution. I read somewhere that 3 diff strains had been released all with the Santa Rosa name. I've seen pics of other folks plums that look more red than mine. Mine are a very dark skin, very tart, but flesh is yellow and juicy. I can't vouch for other Santa Rosas ability to self pollinate. I love Asian Pears, and many folks are saying most are partly self fertile. I planted 4 diff kinds my first year so I can't agree or disagree with that. In all honesty I'd go Semi Dwarf on all trees and see if you can fit 2 into each spot. Lots easier to care for and more production that way. Pruning a combo tree takes a learning curve, and usually one variety takes over anyway. So if you hadn't planned for other pollination you'd be in trouble down the road anyway. My vote on Asian Pears is Raja if you can get it. I also love Hosui, but that tree takes a lot of work. Most folks love Olympic Giant, but just put mine in so can't comment on taste yet. It would however extend your picking season, plus OG is a great storage pear. I do have 20th century but haven't been wowed by it yet. However it's young, and they say some trees need to grow up before tasting their best. Pam in cinti

You needn't duplicate the commercial orchards approach, in fact you might be better served with higher scaffolds if you eventually plan to have turf underneath your trees and need mower access. Also, if you want to keep coons and possums off your trees (don't know if that is a local problem for you) you're best off with about 3.5 ft of branchless trunk to attach metal flashing to stop them from climbing trees- unless you have an electric fence. You live in a humid area and you may not want to apply as many fungicide sprays as your commercial grower neighbor(at least 10 a season, which you can reduce to 2). Leaving space between the wet ground and first branches will benifit air circulation and rapid drying after morning dew and rain. You don't have to get maximum yeald with the least possible ladder work to make a profit. I beilieve home orchards should have trees even more open than commercial ones for this reason.

There's really only one 'Keiffer', but plenty of trees that have been misidentified as Keiffer, and plenty of trees that have been propagated and sold as 'Keiffer' that were not true to name. Additionally, there are a number of Keiffer offspring, or varieties originating from a similar cross of Bartlett(?)X Chinese Sand Pear that are similar - if not 'better' - in fruit quality, that are floating around out there in the hands of pear enthusiasts, and some have made their way into the commercial nursery industry, sometimes misidentifed as Keiffer. Brendan has the right suggestion - grow out a seedling - or purchase a cheap callery (Bradford, Aristocrat, etc.) pear and rework it with scions/buds collected from the 'Keiffer' tree producing the fruit that you like - then you'll be assured that you're getting what you want. Pears are perhaps the easiest tree to propagate by grafting - very, very forgiving of beginners' sometimes less-than-perfect attempts. You should try it - but be forewarned: it can become an obsession! Here is a link that might be useful: Keiffer info at NCGR Pyrus collection

Most of the Asian pears I see in store have a grey tone to the golden brown. This one is more glow and the flesh transparent. It is hard to tell the flavor. Each person may have a different taste...