Pear tree mystery!

[Kellybean]

We bought a Beurre Hardy pear tree in the sale last autumn along with some other fruit trees. They were all temporarily planted in buckets in multi-purpose compost as we weren't sure where they were going to be planted permanently at the time. In the spring they all came into leaf apart from the Beurre Hardy, which remained completely bare. We assumed it hadn't made it through the harsh weather and left it where it had been all winter in case it decided to come to life a bit later on. Amazingly, last week, on the 18th of August, it suddenly and very randomly burst into leaf! Is this normal - can anyone explain why it happened?

[DaveJ]

Never happened to me before with fruit but have had similar experiences with ordinary garden plants in the past. I've removed a plant which looks completely dead, placed it in a pot in a corner just in case, forgotten about it and so totally neglected it, late summer the plant rejuvenates mysteriously. No idea why.

[FB.]

Although I've never known such an extreme event, I can see that it is possible.

Many nurseries that sell "bare root" plants actually dig them all up and keep them in a giant refrigration unit. The unusual conditions during storage can confuse the trees natural summer/winter pattern.

Basically; pear trees need to be at a certain maximum/minimum temperature for a maximum/minimum amount of time, before their growth re-starts each spring. It is a natural mechanism to prevent trees coming out of hibernation and then having all their new shoots killed by frost during a brief mild spell in mid-winter.

Your tree got confused. During the next year or two, it should return to a normal pattern of growth and hibernation.