Pear Trees in Arkansas??

[bluelacedredhead]

We were looking at something in an Arkansas Tourism link and there was mention of Bradford Pear, which I googled to find out is considered an ornamental tree with Non-edible fruits.

But this started us wondering, what types of fruit trees can be raised successfully in Arkansas?? And what varieties are you familiar with??

Is there a pear that will grow there??

Figs of course....

Apples??

Stone fruits no doubt...

And I recall a former internet buddy talking about blackberries for pies and jams, so I know they are common there..

I found the Naturally Grown site for Arkansas, but I don't see mention of much in the way of fruit?

[peppereater]

Hey there, bluelaced. Yep, pears should be fine there, I'm still learning about fruit trees and have a small orchard of about 30 trees, mostly peaches. I've got 1 moonglow pear and 1 dwf bartlett. We get lots of pears from a neighbors 2 trees that overhang our property.Your climate is slightly more moderate there than here, and should be great for nearly any variety of apple, pear, cherry, grape, berry, about any fruit you'd want to grow, really. Like I say, I'm still learning, but I think almost any variety of the more common fruits grow over a wide range with the exception of the extreme north and south zones.
Keep in mind that many fruit trees need another variety for pollination. Apples and pears usually need another variety for proper pollination, sechel (sp?) pears will not pollinate others and so must be planted with 2 other varieties for all 3 to be successfully pollinated. Sour (pie) cherries are self fertile, as are peaches and apricots, but sweet cherries need another sweet for pollination. Ayers and Bartlett pears are perhaps the most widely grown, bartlett said to be best fruit overall. There is one pear variety that is self fertile but I would have to look it up. I did see a semi-dwarf Bartlett that was labeled as self fertile. I don't recall whether that has something to do with dwarfing rootstock or another aspect of the grafting.

[johno]

"...what types of fruit trees can be raised successfully in Arkansas?? And what varieties are you familiar with??"

Pear trees are very successful here in north central Arkansas, as well as plums and cherries. These three are low-maintenance, and I can't help noticing that they are also found wild here.

Pears in particular are very hardy - they were amongst the very few trees that seemed unfazed by the late hard frost we had in 2007. There are three wild pears in my yard, and they make good jams and jellies.

We also have some wild plums in the yard. They do fine on their own, but would bear more reliably if they were pruned.

My parents had a Montmorency (pie) cherry tree that was very productive and lived for about 30 years. We also had yellow cherry trees (forget the name, came from Stark Bros.) that were very productive and sweet for fresh eating, but they didn't live so long. My parents rarely did anything to the trees; maybe with some maintenance they would still be with us.

Cedar/apple rust is rampant here, as well as fireblight, so only disease-resistant apples do well with minimal maintenance. The most bountiful with the least fuss in my father's mini orchard have been Arkansas Black and Winesap apples. Stark Bros. has a disease-resistant collection and a heritage collection - I would think apple trees from either collection would have a good chance here.

Peaches are tough to grow well here. We almost always have late frosts, which means late-maturing varieties are preferred. Then there's the bugs... and diseases... I had two peach trees that were already on the property. I don't spray, and I use organic methods. I managed to get one decent peach from the smaller tree before it died, and the older tree rarely makes a peach bigger than a walnut, if any. On the other hand, there are peach orchards around here - if you spray them with all the synthetic stuff you can get peaches.

Thinking about moving to the hills to start an orchard?

[moonlilyhead]

Our three peach trees do just fine. They are beginning to flower right now! We have wild pears around the border of the property. We just bought an apple tree to put in the ground.

[peppereater]

We've had a hard frost around April 30 here the last 2 years that wiped out my peaches, but there is a famous town (Stratford) for peach growing 30 miles to the south that had their best crop in several years last year...the year before they were wiped out. Winters have been warm enough here lately that peaches bloom and set fruit prematurely, then freeze. I'll be curious to see what some other varieties do as the trees mature a bit.

[moonlilyhead]

peppereater, the frost last year got our peaches too, but the trees made it ok. Are your trees dead, or did it just get the fruit?

[peppereater]

moonlilyhead said:

peppereater, the frost last year got our peaches too, but the trees made it ok. Are your trees dead, or did it just get the fruit?

Oops, sorry, the trees made it fine, but no fruit.
Two years of drought, hot winters and late freezes did kill 2 cherries and at least on apple, though. Young trees, but still...grrrowl.

[bluelacedredhead]

We had a yard full of various fruit trees when we lived in the Niagara Fruitbelt region. Peaches the size of softballs; apricots, two varieties of pears, two apples, gooseberries, currants and raspberries of all colours. Here, I have some aging apple trees and a black currant bush that's too stubborn to die.

It's too cold here to overwinter peaches, and I have little interest in raising the tasteless fruits that were developed in Manitoba (Canada) for short season areas.

Maybe in my next life, I'll be fortunate enough to live somewhere where I can enjoy home raised fruit again.