Short news

[altivo]

This morning we found a pear tree on our land that we hadn't noticed in the almost 14 years we've been here. How do you miss a 30 foot tall tree covered with snow white, fragrant blossoms every spring and (presumably) pears in the fall? Well, said tree is on the northernmost boundary of the property, outside the pasture fence and among a clump of aspen trees. In a more typical year, the aspens would have their leaves by the time the pear blossoms appeared. Since the pear is on the boundary farthest from the house and barns, and farthest from the pasture gate, we have normally seen it at a distance of about 600 feet. It blends right into the aspens.

This year, the early warmth has brought apples and pears into blossom about three weeks earlier than usual. The aspens are still almost naked, having just a few leaf bugs opening at their tops, well above the pear. And Gary happened to walk that fenceline with the dog this week, while the flowers were very obvious from close up. It will be interesting to see whether it actually bears fruit. Pollenation may be an issue, between the shortage of bees now and the distance to the nearest other pears. We have a Bradford ornamental pear in bloom in front of the house, but that's almost a quarter mile away. No problem for honeybees if we had any, but it's a long haul for bumbles or the native green bees that have appeared to fill in for the missing honeybees now.

The red flag warning (excessive wildfire risk) has been lifted after three days, but it is replaced by a hard freeze warning. That may have a serious impact on orchard trees, including our apples and pears here.

Comments

[ilyena_sylph]

Don't worry. If it's a pear that's been there that long, it'll pollinate itself.

The one in my mom's back 40 has been doing it for a century.

[altivo]

Most strains of pear don't react to their own pollen, but will accept pollen from another individual pear of any variety. Even if they do accept their own pollen, insects are needed to make the transfer. We have very few bees here now compared with what there were a decade ago.

[schnee]

Ooh, a pear tree! I hope it'll bear tasty, tasty fruits. :)

[altivo]

If it has had any fruits in the last 14 years, we saw no signs of them. Pears don't usually self-pollinate. They need pollen from a different pear tree. The collapse of honeybee populations over the past few years has caused notable issues with pollination of a lot of food crops.