Hi. I've just bought a house and would love to plant an Asian pear tree in the backyard. Although I have found many varieties described on the internet, I'm wonder which are best for our climate in Victoria, BC, Canada. (Hosui, Shinseiki, 20th Century and Shinko seem most popular in the southern USA.) I remember seeing an Asian pear at UBC last year... what variety do you prefer for the UBC gardens? Are there any you avoid? I've also read that cross-pollination is necessary for most varieties, and that Chinese varieties cross-pollinate best with Chinese, and Japanese with other Japanese rather than having 2 of the same tree. Is this true?? What is the maximum distance apart the 2 trees should be?? (There is a common garden across the street from us with an Asian pear already established, so I may be able to determine variety and make my selection around that.) Thanks in advance for you advice, Irene in Victoria
I know I shouldn't be replying to my own queries, but I have since found out that the Asian pear across the street is a Shinseiki (Japanese) variety. From what I have found in other websites, i should be planting a different variety to allow cross-pollination. Is this correct??
I doubt anyone minds if you reply to your own; I'm sure I have too. You're right, you can't count on two trees of the same name/cultivar/variety to pollenize one another; since a cultivar is a clone, having multiple trees isn't any better than having multiple branches on a single tree if they're the same cultivar. So get a different variety than the one across the street. One kilometer would not be an unreasonable maximum distance. Some types of bees forage much greater distances (miles in a day,) and pollen can be transferred within the hive in the case of social bees. I am sure you are considering other things about which variety to choose besides cross-pollination. Whether it would be an issue in Victoria I don't know, but I look out for disease susceptibilty as a consideration. Below I'll link to a page about fireblight, a bacterial disease of pears; it has a table of pear varieties rated as susceptible, resistant, or intermediate. 'Shinko', for example, has some resistance to this disease. Note that there are no apple or pear varieties that are immune to this disease, so planting a resistant variety is just one of the methods of reducing likelihood of disease outbreak. There is a product called Serenade that has proven effective in prevention. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/fireblyt.htm Asian pear seems like a good candidate for trying apple bags on. There are some variations on a theme, but it is basically some type (paper, waxed paper, plastic...) of bag that is tied or stapled over the young fruit (maybe about marble sized,) which prevents insects (curculio, codling moth, etc.) and fungal diseases from ruining the fruit. There is a lot about them on the web and even this forum. I bought some from Fedco in Maine. Hope that helps in some way. Are you okay with cross-pollination now? I believe you used the term correctly, but just for kicks, here is some terminology that is often confused: a pollinator is an insect that transfers pollen from one flower to a another, such as a bumblebee; a pollenizer is a plant that provides pollen to another plant of the same species, such as a 'Winter Banana' apple tree planted at the end of a row of 'Red Delicious' apple trees.
you've been incredibly helpful, I'm grateful!! I'm also delighted to hear trees don't have to actually be adjacent to eachother to allow the bees to do their job! I will also see if I can find some Serenade just in case (We have difficulty getting some things in Canada...) Will also be working on my horticultural terminology.. :) Important to make sure I'm asking what I actually mean to!! with sincere (huge) thanks, Irene
The Asian pear here at UBC is 'Nijisseiki' (aka 20th Century). Hartmann Nursery provides a list of Asian pears that do well west of the Cascades: Asian Pear Varieties
that's great, thanks. I ended up getting a Hosui and a Shinseiko; apparently they work well together as far as cross-pollination goes. (They flower around the same approximate time of year.) Irene