Perfect Pear

I planted two pear trees the fall before last, and they took their sweet time establishing themselves. This spring, the wait finally paid off as I was treated to a gorgeous show of blossoms which will soon be followed by fruits.

I planted two kinds–an Asian Nijisseiki 20th Century pear (Pyrus pyrifolia), and a 3-in-1 Bosc-Anjou-Bartlett (Pyrus communis). Both are actually in part shade but most say full sun is best for fruit production… if in part shade it already blooms like this… I don’t know what it’ll be like in full sun.

They tolerate somewhat acidic to neutral soil, and does best with well drained fertile soil. Pears do need chill hours (between 40 and 50 degrees F for anywhere between 200 to 800 hours), and many require another variety for cross pollination. The great part about them is that Asian and European pears can pollinate each other.

I plan to add two or three more pear trees this year and will give an update when the fruits come in!

Update: September 2020

This is the first year my Asian pear has produced large, baseball sized fruits. The years before it would only produce small, sweet and juicy golf ball sized ones I got about 8 of them, which isn’t bad considering several of the lower branches were stripped bare by deer before we managed to fix the fence. I would have forgotten about it if my husband hadn’t been taking a short hike with our kids in woods that back the house!