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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] St. Lawrence Nursery - Hardy pears

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  • From: John Henderson <jhenderson@ithaca.edu>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] St. Lawrence Nursery - Hardy pears
  • Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 10:56:14 -0400

We have ordered from St Lawrence off and on since 2003 and have been satisfied enough to keep ordering.

Back in 2003 we ordered from St Lawrence two of the pears Claude mentioned, the Giffard and the Savignac. Only this year did either start to bloom, so we are hoping to be able to comment on the fruit quality later this year. The two trees are quite different other than six years to first fruiting. The Savignac is quite vigorous and required some discipline to spread its branches. The Giffard is half the size, but naturally spreading. They are on the same rootstock, and about 20 feet apart. We also ordered a Golden Spice from St Lawrence the following year, but it did an excellent impersonation of a stick after its first year. We don't blame Bill MacKently for that; we think we planted it too close to a black walnut tree.

We got a Patten pear from another nursery. The Patten is two years younger and also blossoming for the first time this year.

John Henderson
Sage Hen Farm
Lodi, NY
in a frost pocket within Zone 5

On May 21, 2009, at 2:30 AM, nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 23:58:03 -0400
From: Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] St. Lawrence Nursery - Hardy pears
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.20090520235803.0153c5a0@pop.ulaval.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Anthony Curcio wrote:
Has anyone ordered trees from St. Lawrence nurseries ? We noticed they have=
cold hardy ( -40/-50 ) Pear trees . Is the flavor comparable to z5 pears ?=
We had a couple of cold snaps last winter that brought -37 to our area pro=
mpting a new cold-hardy section of our orchard.
Thanks, Anthony z4b

Anthony,
I have never ordered from St-Lawrence (as I am in Canada) but I have quite
a bit of experience with zone 4 pears. I wrote an article in the Winter
2008 Pomona on hardy pears that you could read if you have it - there are
quite a few varieties discussed that are sold by St-Lawrence. Some of the
hardy pears are of a quality comparable with well known varieties - but
sometimes the climate makes them more irrigular (i.e. some years the fruits
are excellent, and other years, the quality will be so-so).
Looking at the list of pears offered by St-Lawrence, here are the ones I
know and I could recommend:
Beurre Giffard - fabulous taste, very early, but fruit is small at my orchard.
Cabot - the one I have is very similar to Patten.
Golden Spice - excellent for juice, more acidity than usual pears.
Irregular bearer. I like to use it in cider blend.
Luscious - very small, but excellent.
Patten - one of my favorites, good quality, nice size, productive and
reliable.
Savignac - I haven't had much production yet, but it shows promise.

Claude Jolicoeur
Quebec






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