[billybullock]

succumbed to an impulse purchase at my local garden centre, a cooking pear. The variety is Saint Remy,and i cannot find a site anywhere regarding pollination. I have a Conference and a Williams which are laden with fruit but dont think my new purchase is compatible. Could anyone recommend a compatible cultivar, my knowledge of pears is not great but i am aware that 2 pear trees flowering simultaneously are not necessarily natural bed fellows. Any ideas?

[poultrygeist]

Hi billy. I can only find one reference to this variety and it merely describes it as a hard cookign pear. I would ask the garden centre you bought it from for a suitable partner.

AT least they may get a new sale from your query.

Rob

[billybullock]

Thanks Rob,worth a try suppose, think i may try to  find a Concorde pear,i think it flowers later than Conference and Williams, so my impulse may cost me another 15 quid at least

[peterjf]

most if not all pear trees are pollinated by the insects and bees , all you need is another pear tree , dont have to be same strain , we have 2 different pear trees and both pollinated this way  for 3 yrs , no probs

[mumofstig]

most if not all pear trees are pollinated by the insects and bees , all you need is another pear tree , dont have to be same strain , we have 2 different pear trees and both pollinated this way  for 3 yrs , no probs

But they have to flower at the right time or they can't pollinate each other, not all varieties flower at the same time.
You have been lucky with yours

[Martin]

The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale (LINK) shows that Saint Remy is in full flower on 27 April (in Kent).

So you want a pollinator that flowers within a few days of that.

Keeper's Nursery is a good site for finding pollinators. They don't have Saint Remy listed, but have (for example) Beurre d'Avalon, which also has a pollination date of 27 April.

So this link gives you a list of pollination partners for Beurre d'Avalon, which would also apply to Saint Remy.

[billybullock]

Thanks Martin, very helpful. Just seems strange that a variety bought at a GC has so little  info on it. I  suppose there is still an element of guess work the reason being again that 2 pears blooming precisely on the same day still does not guarantee compatibility. There are instances of varieties that should not be grown together for this very reason even though flowering occurs at the same time. I suppose luck is what makes fruit growing so hit interesting.

[poultrygeist]

Excellent link martin. It says St Remy is a desert pear. I found a couple of references on Dutch sites saying it was culinary only as you say Billy.

But a good resource to put on the favourites all the same.

Rob

[cathangirl]

Hi Billy,
Ummm, how about dashing around your pear tree with a soft paint brush?  Is that as daft as it sounds?  Does it have to be a different variety to polinate?  No one tells the bees, so it must be down to pot luck.

Did you see the News about encouraging folk to have 5 fruit trees, last night?  5 count as an orchard, so I am OK with three apple trees (a 72 years old, but very productive cooker/eater -Victoria something; a 40 plus year old Early Victoria cooker/eater and a 55plus year old eater, Pearmain type.)  Last year we bought two Conference pear and two cherry trees.

Oops, sorry, I digressed rather.
cathangirl