Conference' Pear produces a large crop of fruits with clear white flesh that are ready to pick each September. The long, tapering fruits are packed with an irresistible sweetness and lip-smacking juice that will drip from your chin when you bite into a ripe one!
Because of its outstanding flavour, it remains the most popular pear grown in Britain by a long measure both in commercial orchards and home gardens. It is perfect for you to grow because it is very heavy cropping and when picked unripe, it is great for keeping for 2 or more months. 'Conference' is largely 'self-fertile' and will be supplied on Quince rootstock.
Many of our trees and shrubs are supplied as bare-root, especially during this time of the year. Bare root means dormant and with the roots out of the soil and the plant can appear to be dead. Different plants grow at different rates - it also depends on the time of the year, the species, the weather, etc. It can take up to 8 weeks to show signs of growth.
If you have any queries about the health of your plant upon arrival, please note we may ask you to do a thorough scratch test. To do this, scratch back a small section of the branch with a thumbnail or sharp knife. It should come away easily. If underneath is green, the plant is fine, and just needs more time and warmer weather. If it is brown, the plant is dead at that point. Sometimes the tips of smaller branches will die back, but the tree itself is OK. If you find a brown branch, move closer to the main trunk and repeat, and check the trunk itself. If you find green lower down, prune back to where you find green, and it will shoot from there. If the main trunk is brown, the plant is unfortunately dead - please contact us with photos of your tests.