North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Richard Moyer" <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

Donna and Lucky,

I put in a mayhaw a number of years ago.  Rust hit the fruit hard, as did late frosts during bloom, so I topworked it (and suckers from the thorny haw rootstock) with 5 types of Euro pear.  The pears on the mayhaw either did not take or if they did the understock never increased in diameter, and eventually the top broke out at the graft union.

 

But the two pears on the thorny haw understock took well, and these are bearing regularly. 

 

But Donna, we have multiple yellow jacket nests on our land each season, and they are never a problem with Asian pears as much as Euro pears.  A few Euros do fall and smash as the bulk of them approach ripeness, making more yellow jacket hazards for bare feet.  But the Asians don't fall and smash as they approach ripeness, and we only have to be careful because the occasional hidden bird peck in the fruit may harbor a yellow jacket.  

 

So is topworking with an Asian pear a possibility? Hidden Springs Nursery, in your neck of the woods, has some that work well for them, and have high blight resistance.  Asian pears dry and juice well, if you have an abundance.

 

One final note.  Don't know if medlar is compatible, but it might be.  Have never seen yellowjackets on that.  And it ripens very late.

 

Richard Moyer

East TN

Where nights are freezing, but quince (Chaenomeles) are blooming.