My Kieffer pear from Home Depot in Hooksett, NH went into the ground in Manchester (Zone 5b) in late spring 2017, Right now, fall 2018, it still has 13 of its 18 pears. They are large and basically unblemished. Squirrels and birds attacked my plums, peaches, and apples, but not the pears, so far. The Luscious pears were a bit too ripe almost a month ago, but these Kieffer pears are not ripe yet. They are tender enough to bite now, but not yet sweet, here. Not bad, but not sweet yet. I will leave them a couple more weeks. My tree was about 8 ft tall when I planted it, and is about 12 feet tall now, in about 18 months from purchase. Since my Heritage raspberries have gotten 10' tall, i suspect this pear tree also will get taller than predicted. That's it, the skinny thing in the center of the picture, as of September 9, 2018.

I have about 30 fruits on the tree, I don't know how many will come to mature. I only have fruits one other time sincebImplanted the tree 7 yr. ago. Very unpredictable fruiting habit. Why?

All gardening is local. I recommend that you experiment with how long they will hold in your area. I usually leave some holding year round. I begin by thinning out the larger clusters, taking the ripened ones first and leaving the greener ones to hold longer.

I live near Haddonfield, in Camden county, NJ and am trying my hand at growing figs for the first time this year. I got one tree (variety unknown - maybe Celeste?) at a local farmer's market last September. Per instructions I left it outside 'til the leaves fell and then wintered it over in the basement - but it started growing! Anxious to get it in the ground I made the mistake of planting it in the side yard (western exposure) in early April. We'd had some quite warm weather that fooled me into thinking spring had come early. It had not. The tree suffered terribly in a windstorm with sustained winds over 40 mph and the snow that hit a week later. losing all its leaves and killing the growing tips of all the shoots. The good news is that the tree sprouted new shoots from four of the five "trunks". It is now doing just fine and enjoying a bit of a growth spurt, although I'll be surprised if it yields any fruit this season. Today I purchased a second fig tree. This one is a Hardy Chicago from Lowe's. I put it into a 12" plastic pot where it will stay for at least the first year or so. I plan on bringing this one into my enclosed but unheated porch next winter. A friend and neighbor also has a fig tree of unknown variety that has survived one winter outdoors. I'll try and get a cutting or two from her to plant next year. I look forward to seeing which one performs best for me.