I agree with rayrose, if you worry about the rose being affected, you want to move it away. The pear tree won't really be bothered. It usually depends on the size, the bigger plant will have a larger root area. So the pear may be only competing with the rose for the nutrients over 10% of pear's root area while the rose is competing with the tree over 100% of rose's root area.

The second picture is my bartlett pear. What are your thoughts?

I can say that my cherry tree is suffering from a fungus because of the cool, damp temps we've been having. Perhaps your tree will come back fine next year under more favorable growing conditions than we've had this year. I wouldn't necessarily blame the soil, mine are planted in clay too and one of them is doing fine....the other was a year end purchase at Lowe's and it has yet to do anything although it has been in for 4 years (it gets taller, no fruit or flowers). Leaf curl is something I've experience on other trees and you can spray for that with dormant oil in the spring. Your best bet IS to take in a branch with the fruit and the leaves still on it, and with leaves from the ground and to take it to your extension agency. They will be able to tell you what it is and what to do about it far better than we can guessing at the problems (temps, moisture, etc.) without a picture and without knowing the conditions your area has had. I hope this helps.

Russeting can also improve the flavor because the fruit loses some water and the flavor is more concentrated. Some russeting on apples also has a delightful nutty taste -- Margil and Ashmeads Kernel are two russets where the skin flavor is the whole reason why the apple is great. Peeling those before eating is like skinning fried chicken before eating. I am growing a russet version of Bartlett (Nye Russet Bartlett) and Golden Delicious (Razor Russet) because I prefer russeting. Scott