Pear Varieties

A pear for Perry (pear cider, similar to hard apple cider, but with a wonderful pear aroma). Small pear, slightly larger than a Seckel, some russet with an attractive red blush. Makes a refreshing, medium acid, low tannin Perry.

• Uses: Fresh eating and Perry (pear cider)
• Harvest: Mid-season
• Zones: 4-9
• Attributes: Excellent Perry variety

Fruit large, greenish-yellow when ripe. Perhaps the queen of winter pears. Flesh is buttery, sweet, tender and aromatic. Its low chilling requirement makes it suitable for southern California. As with Anjou, these need a period of cold storage before ripening. Tends towards biennial bearing.

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Very late
• Zones: 6-10
• Attributes: Good storage quality

The highest quality keeper pear, it thrives throughout the nation. This large, attractive dessert pear is yellow with some russetting. The flesh is very smooth in texture and rich in flavor. Trees are very hardy, of moderate vigor and very productive. The fruit matures in early October and develops its best quality if stored about a month. Ripen the fruit on your counter through Christmas. Highland was developed at the Geneva station in New York State.

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Mid-season
• Zones: 5-9
• Attributes: Excellent storage quality

From a 1955 cross of Seckel and U.S. 220. Selected from 137 seedlings planted at Purdue University, selected for survival of fireblight inoculum and severe winter damage and, finally, fruit quality. The tree is spreading and does not defoliate even without spraying for leaf spotting diseases. The tree takes fireblight but strikes typically cork-off in one or two year old wood. The fruit ranges from 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches in diameter, ripening to a golden russet. The flesh is very smooth and buttery with no detectable grit. The flavor is rich, very sweet and resembles “Seckel.”

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Mid-season
• Zones: 5-8
• Attributes: Excellent storage quality

A must for the home orchard. Hardy and self-fertile. Hardiest bloom in the spring. Resistant to fire blight; it’s reported that if any trees survive, Seckels do. Fruit small, reddish-brown russet over yellow or greenish-brown. Best flavor. Flesh creamy white and sweet. Good for preserving, spicing. Thinning produces better size fruit. Often known as the Sugar Pear. Tree is naturally semi-dwarf.

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Mid-season
• Zones: 5-10
• Attributes: Excellent dessert quality

A large, sweet, aromatic, pear from Bulgaria. The skin is yellow with a pretty red blush. The flavorful flesh is fine textured and buttery. It is harvested in early August and top rated among thousands of pears from around the world at the USDA national pear Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon.

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Early
• Zones: 4-7
• Attributes: Top rated among thousands of pears

Medium to large, long-necked, drop-shaped fruit is faded green with an occasional red blush in full sun. Varies in size and shape. Flavor is rated equal to Magness by many. Sweet, very juicy, buttery, smooth flesh with no grit. Pyramidal tree shape. Fire blight resistant.

• Uses: Fresh eating
• Harvest: Late
• Zones: 4-9
• Attributes: Buttery smooth flesh and good storage quality