To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Wild(?) pear question
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 08:03:46 -0700
Pyrus betulafolia is one of the preferred stocks for resistance to pear psylla. The main problem is that most of the material in the U.S. came from the southern part of the species' range and isn't hardy. But there is material from the northern part that is very hardy. In 1990 I sent seed of it from the Germplasm Repository to Wayne Fuhr in Canada. He reported that young trees took -40 in November with only slight damage at the ends of twigs. I have had a row of seedlings of that material for some years and I think they have real potential.
-Lon Rombough NEW grape pruning video: http://www.bunchgrapes.com/dvd.html View a short, low resolution clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q58zFY0B1M
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
A video about The Grape Grower : http://cookingupastory.com/index.php/2008/04/18/the-grape-grower/
On Sep 4, 2009, at 7:49 AM, Kieran &/or Donna wrote:
No, the one thing I read every time about calleryana is that it's NOT hardy as a rootstock. That leaves P. ussuriensis as the most likely candidate. Okolo is a ussuriensis offspring that may be hardy enough for you, from Dr. Hansen's work I think. I didn't get good takes from my grafts of that one, but if you'll look at the Corvallis site, they have a list of hardy pears. You'll want only the very hardiest. You can call for nominations right here.