I'm having a hard time knowing when to pick pears, to know when they are ripe enough to finish ripening properly, but not too ripe! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! The following pics are of what are almost ready. The top 2 are So Sweet, only 3 pears on the tree. The bottom 2 pics are of Summercrisp (the ones in the sun have a red side and a green side). Both Pears currently are about 2 1/4 inches round with the SC being also about 2 1/2 - 3 inches long.

Seems most cultivars are slightly different and finding the perfect timing can be a challenge. The Krazulya can be picked ripe from the tree..they don't ripen all the same time. Some pears need to be picked when still hard...otherwise they rot from the inside. For most I find when the first ones drop then pick them all.

Thank you, I will watch for more signs of ripeness or dropping....sounds like more of a guessing game, lol How was the Krazulya for flavor and texture this year?

Pretty nice...Krazulya has a slight astringency where Beedle has none, both are pretty sweet.

Please describe your 2 pears...so sweet I grafted this year, Summercrisp died out in my low test plot out of town.

I am surprised Summercrisp died out. I planted mine as a whip in 1995. It's been through some bad winters and has always been hardy to the tip. I'm in a low spot. It has not had the most ideal conditions as the area used to get spring flooding, but the county has since replaced the old culvert and now that problem is solved. I have a caragana windbreak on the north, but it is taller than the windbreak so gets north wind exposure also. I like the flavor of Summercrisp, it has firmer flesh that is sweet when caught at the right time. It's tricky as it is one you eat a bit on the green side. I will give a better report when I taste them both and compare. I got a replacement Krazulya this spring from Hardy Fruit. I got 3 more Russian varieties from Bernie of the ones he budded this spring. The Krasenkokalya scion I got from you is growing well (thanks). My Gifford is looking promising as it has made it through 3 winters so far although they have been mild lately. Call me crazy, but this year I added Sierra (someone I knew had it producing near Calgary so needed to try it) as well as Honeysweet & Nova.

I picked 1 of the So Sweet pears a couple of days ago. It was smelling like it was getting ripe so cut it open today. It was VERY SWEET (it's name suits it) and tasty with just a touch of tartness, no astringency and a good pear flavor. It had a firmer flesh (maybe ate too soon) and a few grit cells near the core. My Summercrisp aren't quite ready to compare it to, but from memory So Sweet has more flavor and I don't remember grit cells in SC. For me it's a keeper and I think children will love it.

My second So Sweet had some astringency, but still strong flavored and very juicy. The Summercrisp is mild pear flavored compared to it, firmish flesh, not as juicy as So Sweet and it has no grit cells. Summercrisp is my favorite so far of these 2. Pic is of Summercrisp with fruit up to 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long.

I've picked a couple of my first Krasnobokaya and Bolshaya today...needs a little storing first and will report back on taste.

I can't wait for my pears! Another year or 2 though. Hayatama from Greenbarn is dying back every single year and is going to be chopped and grafted over next spring. Same thing with Kenko from Greenbarn. Taylor Apple from Greenbarn had grown up to 7 feed last year after struggling for 3 years but then the bark peeled this spring/summer and it died back to just above rootstock (fireblight vs winter injury?). Pretty much all the Greenbarn "hardy" stuff I got has royally sucked. Northbrite from Greenbarn is surviving so far and I grafted 15-20 different varieties to it this spring so I am sure that I setback production by a year or two but I had the scion wood and not many places to graft too so I sacrificed a ton of branches to make room for grafts.

Hope to have my annual summer report posted soon.

Well..

Ate my first 3 Bolshaya have 5 ...was in fridge about 10 days then
outside for 3 days, mostly was brown inside, juicy sweet but
astringent, might be fine for dehydrating. Have 5 Krasnobokaya..about
the same storage then outside, the first one was juicy but bland /
tasteless, wife didn't want to eat it..the second one I just ate now...
was better, a little pear taste and little sweet, flesh coarse
...couldn't be near a buttery Bartlet from store. The seeds were still on the white side, perhaps I din't store Krasnobokaya long enough. Put them all back in fridge and will taste later more...seems not consistent in taste, when to pick and how to store is another hurdle...seems very touchy with these.

So far I still prefer the Beedle and Krazuly pear.

I cut up the last two remaining Bolshaya, ...less brown, one almost none, again very juicy and some astringent, not terribly, thick skinned, average sweet I'd say, could eat it.

As you see, the flesh is fairly course textured, [not like a buttery Bartlett]...perhaps this speeds up the browning/rotting process?

Picked Paul's Pear tonight. They also survived a minus 6C night. They are still hard as rocks but were starting to drop off the tree. They varied a lot in size, but we had a drought and I didn't water them much. I will report on their quality once they ripen.

Paul's pears were too astringent for me & didn't seem to ripen well before rotting. I will give them one more year but I'm starting to graft over in the meantime. It is a nice healthy, fast growing tree for a good base for grafting onto.

Thanks for telling...one to stay clear of before wasting time.

The Saskatoon Farm claims ..this one is the best pear on the prairies lol. Developed by Paul Hamer.

I put 3 underripe Krasnobokaya in the fridge and when checking about 3 weeks later they all were rotten/brown...not even a little bit of white.

Got a few pears off my Patten tree (sorry, no pictures) ... I think you all would like them a lot. I'm looking forward to getting a good crop of them, hopefully next year.

Good to hear, I planted a Patten this year!

how old is your Patten Douglas?

6 or 7 years. Pear trees seem to take a long time to start bearing fruit here.

Patten seems to produce quality fruit, and the tree is winter hardy (so far). My biggest concern about this variety is that some years my growing season may be too short for these pears to mature properly.

I asked Dr. Evans on how he rates the Beedle pear, answer...

I`d give the Beedle pear an 8 out of 10 for sure. They were ripe by late September and they keep well and are Zone 2 hardy.

Konrad. I'm interested in buying Beedle and krazula pear scion wood from you. Please send me your info for purchase. Keithjweber@weberappraisal.com

Well...think your'e from the US....it's illegal to send live material over the boarder.

Ok I wasnt aware. Thanks for the info

Can anyone give me any feedback on following pears

Patten. Loma. Loving pear. Cabot. Celine. Do any of these varieties do well in zone 3b.

If you can find it, try southworth. Apparently hardy and size and taste similar to Bartlett. According to a nursery...

I found that one and am excited to plant it this spring

I am going to try it this spring too. Its self-fertile which is amazing. I wonder if its Pyrus Communis? I can't find out anywhere...

I'm drooling. I tried to grow pears several times, but each time they were covered with slimy pear slugs (imagine dark grey jello in a small worm form) and the trees were not healthy even with spraying. I suppose there is too much clay in my soil. Has anyone else been able to overcome these difficulties with a particular variety? I do have sour cherry trees and they haven't been a bother to them.

Hi Konrad are you growing the northbrite pear and is it a nice pear and good tasting.

I thought I put on a graft last year and today I couldn't find it lol.

Seems whatever of the Northbrite I had grafted took it hard last winter, I'll see if something was pushing on the the graft.

The Krasnobokaya, two good old grafts, about 4 years old died out completely, I wont graft it anymore since the pear was only so so. Some others died out also.

After this horrible winter I'm surprised that Krazulya has some fruits...Beedle is taking a rest after last years good load.

I'm also surprised that some other test pears fruited and might be able to take to the show...mostly promising is the Favoritka Pear, pear...I'll be posting some pictures here or on FB where the action is lol. Bernie the pear Guru is there also, he doesn't have fruit yet on Favoritka since he grafted it later.

I was surprised that my Beedle died, and the Krazulya on the same tree suffered some winter kill. The graft of Krazulya on my hill did well.

Interestingly enough, last fall I transplanted my Dew Drop Pear ( It was a gift from my son ) into my greenhouse ( plastic and not heated in the winter) and it survived. It was 5 feet tall and I had only planted it in the yard that spring and decided to move it so I fully expected it to suffer. It did have winter kill but I am not sure that it was the result of the cold, it's size the fact that I transplanted it slightly before it was dormant or a combination of all these factors. Next season we will see.

@jorustyboy I tasted Northbrite: absolutely delicious. Beautiful little pear. I don't think I am easy to please when it comes to pears... As I recall, it had a nice texture, a little acidity, a lot of sugar and some fragrance as well. The skin was pleasant. Well balanced.

@Konrad___far_north Hi! I grafted some russian pears this spring. I am very excited about Successful Falkenberg. Do you know when it ripens ? I'm guessing late september in Alberta? I am in Qc zone 4b/5a, but I'm guessing I would be around 2 weeks earlier than you. Any info would help. Thanks!

T&T Seeds said this morning that their Beedle Pears are on Siberian rootstock & should reach about 20 feet height.

cryomom be wary of T&T Seeds now. I believe they got bought by the owners of cramptons market, and the quality has gone downhill. They have, in my opinion, issues with their storage. Twice now ive pickedup my order and had plants sitting in sopping wet half-frozen soil, MOLDY, often with visible rot. When i asked for a new grape (the one they gave me was barely a few inches tall, moldy, and dripping wet), they handed me another one (still with mold, though less), and told me, "this is the best we can do".

The shipment they sent me (I live about an hour away so Ive done both local pickup and Canada post shipping) didnt fare much better - the hardy cherries were barely 2" tall (two of which again were moldy/dead), and the manchurian apricot failed to leaf out.

I have a place to put a pear tree or two. I'm wondering if anyone has any first-hand experience with any of the following supposedly cold-hardy varieties that are available for me to order:

Southworth

Eden

Schroeder ND Hardy

Julienne

Waterville

I'm wondering about characteristics like hardiness in your area, ripening time, tree vigor and size, susceptiblity to fireblight, fruit size, quality, suitability for canning, etc.

How long for pears to get strong enough to bear a decent crop if given good care? From a small transplant of about four feet tall

Hello all!
It’s been a long time since last active here. I’m more active in the local Alberta group…(Hardy Fruits and Nuts of Alberta)
As for pears..most of my pears died completely a couple of years back….mainly due to a wet season and much green wood going into winter, I basically got rid of about a dozen trees..kind of got fed up ..trying some low to the ground now and hopefully get some snow protection.
It takes about 5 years to fruit.

Nice. konrad - do you like ’ure’ or ’golden spice’?

Never had Ure, Golden spice had one pear this year lol, died back and almost lost in town zone 3b, doesn’t work at the orchard zone 3, it’s a good pear which stores about a month.

Nice to see you, Konrad! I tried to join the Hardy Fruits and Nuts of Alberta group but was too honest, ha ha, and they said they don't accept non-Alberta resident members. I live in SK. Oh, well...

Thank you ..strange, there are others out of province in the group, maybe try again.
A pretty active group!
One’s there you don’t want to come back here lol.. I like it because it’s mostly people with similar growing/climate zone.

This the one and only Golden Spice this year.
Had a couple Krazulya and for the first time l liked Bolshaya..most Russian pears seem to be unpredictable in taste / ripening for various reasons..most likely weather related.

So far Krazulya is is pretty reliable in taste..early ripening is the key for zone 3 -3b.
Golden spice is late and still needs a couple of weeks in October.

Hey konrad did you ever try “loving” pear tree

I put in a golden spice tree 4 years ago and it hasnt grown an inch its getting the axe this year and replaced was a bum tree from bylands

Hi Matt!
Nope..never tried loving.
Sometimes you get crap in pots, I had one similar in a pear tree..think it was the first one I bought lol
Most often it’s better go with a smaller whip bare root or just get Siberian and graft later.

My golden spice grew about 8” in its first year

My golden spice was a wonderful grower, much better than most of the other pear trees I've tried here. It's a reliable producer here in a cold, short-season zone. I use most of the crop in making juice.