I would agree w/ Hman's comment. Not that I'm trying to bash Stark's, but there are plenty of quality nurseries which give rootstock info. That said, I'm really getting disappointed with Adams. Out of about 150 peach trees I ordered from them in 2012, I've identified 4 trees as being mislabeled. These are trees I've positively identified as mislabeled through bloom or fruit set. In some cases I ordered multiple trees of the same variety and (for example) all the trees had a showy bloom but one (clearly mislabeled). I expect I'll discover more mislabeled trees in the future. In one instance I ordered a flat peach (Galaxy) but the fruit is of a regular peach (pretty easy to tell the difference). I understand mistakes happen, but this is too often to be unintentional unless they have very sloppy procedures. I've talked to one other grower who has seen the same thing (i.e peaches supposed to ripen in a certain window, but ripen much earlier or later - clearly not what he ordered). Will I still order from Adams? Probably, because they always seem to have some unique offerings. But I'll be watching closely to see if what I ordered is actually what I receive.

John of Lamb Abbey, When the bark is not slipping on the hawthorn stock, here is what to do when you want to graft low and the sizes are hugely different. Make a regular whip&tongue cut on your medlar whose caliber is way too small, then carefully make a matching wound in the large rootstock. Then actually make a tongue on the stock by back-cutting, then slide the scion home, matching as well as possible. I frequently use this technique. Maybe I should call it the modified rind/bark-whip&tongue graft! Anyway, it works good and saves the day. Of course, if you can wait till the hawthorn bark is slipping nicely, you can just do a regular bark graft, which work a treat too. Cover the whole scion with grafting glue after completing the graft (prevents the scion from drying out). Make certain that all air holes are plugged so the union cannot dry out. Don't let any glue get into the union either. Dethride, Apple trees are easy to work over from a 12 inch stump from ground level. Unless you want to work each individual branch over, which allows you to put many kinds on one tree. Wait till the tree has put on a leaf or two, then wack it cleanly with a chain saw (if working over individual limbs, a sharp hacksaw makes nice clean cuts!). Score the bark with a sharp knife every 2 inches around the circumference, insert shaved scions into each slit, then bind the whole thing with electrical tape. Plug all holes (combination of small strips of tape and/or modeling clay or plumbers putty), then cover grafted scions with glue. They will all grow over the summer. I have seen them go 6 and 8 feet each! Next winter, save the best upright, cutting all the others back to one or two buds. This keeps the bark alive all around the tree, not letting it die. The huge wound will disappear in 10 years or so, but needs a little maintainance every winter to keep the main upright, the main upright. I coat the ugly wound in the fall (big wound is nice and dry at this point), before rains start with roofing compound, some use copper fungicide. This keeps the wood from rotting before the gap closes. You should be getting apples around 3 or 4 seasons from when you initially graft. I think it is worth it when you don't have to do 1000 trees this way. Great for the homeowner who wants to make use of a wonderful root system already in the ground! For the link below, I recommend the single-cut bark graft. It is less messing around than the double cut kind, and works just as good. Also, the scion (two or three nice buds) need not have any shoulder like they portray. Just a simple long wedge will work fine. And I have never used nails. Some of my scionwood just would not handle a nail as sometimes the scion is too small. Here is a link that might be useful: Bark Graft

Looks like you have been doing some research. You might consider keeping your fruit trees smaller through summer pruning for easier spraying, thinning, bird protection, harvesting, etc. It's not Houston, but Fanick's in San Antonio has introduced varieties of shade and fruit trees, and seem to know what they're doing. You might get some ideas from their listings. I have been curious about the "chill-neutral" peachcot that ripens in August. They have a nice selection of figs and citrus. Don't people in Houston also grow loquats? They're an ornamental fruit bush/tree that bears during an interesting season. Named varieties for fruit are often offered on quince rootstock to control the size of the tree. Pineapple guavas (named varieties) or guavas are also a possibility for "edible landscaping". Here is a link that might be useful: Fanick's, San Antonio

Thanks. It will of course take a number of years to make assessment of the various pears as fruiting trees, but by this time next year I should know whether OHxF 51 will airlayer successfully (I don't see why not) and maybe two years past that to see if cuttings (stem and root) and stooling are successful enough for us amateurs to propagate at least enough to meet our own wants and needs. My hope is that there is moderate "take" and that it is merely profitable commercial stem-cutting propagation that was challenged. I'll be glad to give away "starter" plants on their own roots if this works, so others can later easily propagate their own. If I'm lucky I'll keep a few stooling plants around to fill my own needs. At a bit less convenience I'll grow some in 25-45 gallon pots and tear apart the root system for cuttings every year or two. Of course, ultimately they may turn out to be no better than Callery seedlings if they don't dwaef a bit here. But we'll see eventually.