my pear tree has suddenly blossomed

[percy charlie]

i cant send you a pic as dont know how to load the camera into the computer gadgets hubbys job.
my pear tree has just blossomed its a williams and the blossoms are turning into pears as the bees loved it i was going to debloom it but the pears just forming are growing quick so they may play catch up ive decided to see what happens.

does anyone know when sparton apples are ready for picking as some of mine are really large but dont know when they are ready

many thanks pc

[Janco]

Sparton apples should be ready in October but will keep for a few months. Mine are all gone - been eaten on the tree by Jays! I would be tempted to pick one now and try it - if it's too sharp you can always cook it.

[Alice]

Wait and see what happens Percy Charlie. It must be quite a small tree if you thought you could debloom it. My father in law had a pear tree which did literally thousands of pears - not a one edible no matter what you did to them, but the blossom was gorgeous.
It fed the birds all winter in many gardens.
You've got to work out how to post a pic so that we can all see that lovely tree.
In the search box see Ben's post - Read before you post. It doesn't make much sense on the screen, but print it off and follow the instructions while looking at the screen. Good luck.

[FB.]

I'm new to the site, but I've been dabbling (struggling) with some fruit "bushes" for the last few years.
I have three pears on Quince A; Conference, Williams and Concorde. They have been struggling to thrive on my relatively hot, dry soil.
This year, they flowered very early (mid March?) and have very few fruits - which I removed to try to encourage more growth. I presume they succumbed to some late frosts and poor pollination.
A couple of weeks ago, the Williams flowered, but no fruits have developed.
Now, the Conference is preparing to flower - they'll be open by early next week.
I also have a James Grieve apple "bush" on MM106. I have been removing fruits for the last few years to try to get some life into it because -like the pears- it is struggling to thrive. It also flowered very early (early April?) and flowered for a second time, several weeks ago. One mis-shaped fruit began to form, but I removed it.

FB

[percy charlie]

the blosoom has started producing fruitlets, and seem to be growing fast as if trying to catch up, so will give it a try.
fb from what i know fruit trees like moisture retentive soil, if i were you i would dig out some of the soil at least down to half way of the roots and fill it back in with either john innes no 3 compost ot a compost that is mixed with peat and apply mulch in autumn and spring also if soil is that dry ensure you water and feed more regular as the soil wont hold moisture and may lack nutrients. to boost fruit production tickle the inner of blossom with a paint brush from flower to flower and back again every couple of days to pollonate, pears usually do better with another pair tree from the same pollonation group to help but best if diff variety and do the paint brush trick from tree to tree as we dont get the bees we used to. williams and conference pollinate each other. hope that helps

[FB.]

the blosoom has started producing fruitlets, and seem to be growing fast as if trying to catch up, so will give it a try.
fb from what i know fruit trees like moisture retentive soil, if i were you i would dig out some of the soil at least down to half way of the roots and fill it back in with either john innes no 3 compost ot a compost that is mixed with peat and apply mulch in autumn and spring also if soil is that dry ensure you water and feed more regular as the soil wont hold moisture and may lack nutrients. to boost fruit production tickle the inner of blossom with a paint brush from flower to flower and back again every couple of days to pollonate, pears usually do better with another pair tree from the same pollonation group to help but best if diff variety and do the paint brush trick from tree to tree as we dont get the bees we used to. williams and conference pollinate each other. hope that helps

Hi, Percy

I noticed yesterday that my apple cordon "Pinova" has begun to open some flowers.

The pears that I have are more of a side-show to the apples. There are very few pear trees in my area, which possibly indicates how unfriendly the conditions. Even the largest of the old apple trees in my area (eg Bramley on seedling rootstock) only manage about 15-18ft in their whole lifetime.
Most varieties on seedling rootstock reach about 10-12ft.
I can think of only two pear trees within a few miles and neither are very vigourous, nor healthy, nor productive.
I appreciate that fruit trees prefer moisture-retaining soil, but it'd be a lot of hard work required to improve my ground around a large number of trees/bushes, and to keep the ground moisture-retentive. There is also such little rainfall (only 15-20 inches a year) that I'd need an irrigation system to prevent any soil drying out.
My solution has been to go mainly for apples on much more vigourous rootstocks than is normally accepted for the size that I want to grow. I even have some "bush" apples on MM111 - and a lot are on MM106.
I find that my apples fruit better when slightly drought stressed (MM106 and MM111 are quite tolerant of dry soils). They grow less, form more fruit buds/spurs and have tastier fruits (although the fruits are smaller). By watering (or not) of my apples, I seem to get good control over their vigour or fruitfulness. Knowing that dry conditions encourage apple powdery mildew, I have high mildew resistance in the one's I grow.

I'm trying to promote solitary orchard bees for pollination work. They are in my area and I have a small number residing in holes in my walls or in dedicated nest holes. Numbers residing in my nest holes are slowly increasing.
I've been thinking about some bumble bee nests too, but I'm wary of needing to work near to where the nests would be sited. I know they're quite docile, but I don't want to be standing in their flight paths, which tends to upset them.

FB

[FB.]

......and today, I noticed that my Egremont Russet is preparing to flower.

[sunflower]

Yesterday, I picked my first Conference pear from one of my baby pear trees planted this year. Now, I'm not really a lover of pears.....bought the trees for Hubby. The pears I have eaten in the past taste grainy and gritty with some never recovering from being in the supermarket freezer. But this was a new experience. Sweet, soft and utterly juicy. Almost like a different fruit. So glad I bought these little trees. Ca'nt wait for the next lot to ripen!