>
> This year, I had three pyrus ussuriensis in bloom for the first time. The
> blooms on all three were surprisingly extra early (three weeks ago before
> wild plums and cherries while my apple trees are in full bloom at the
> moment). We had what I hope to be our last Frost of the season last night.
> There was hardly any insects out when the pears were in bloom except for
> some tiny busy individuals which I judged to be too small to carry pollen
> from one flower to the next. I have now spotted at least one pear
> developing
> in each tree, so there is no need to despair yet.
>
> H?l?ne, zone 3-4, in Qu?bec north of Ottawa
Helene, you are probably only a little later than here in N.E. Vermont --
the P. ussuriensis crosses (Golden Spice, Summercrisp, Luscious, Ure, Early
Gold) that I have start flowering about mid-May or a little earlier and the
last petals are just dropping now. There seems to be no pollination
problem, it looks to me that some sort of native bee/wasp does most of the
work with a few bumblebees late in the day. I have been getting good
cross-pollination on the European types too, Anjou, Red Sensation and now
Parker. I like all of these pears, even Golden Spice which makes a very
nice stewed pear.
We missed a frost last night, close enough to singe the newly sprouted
potatoes that's all.