Trees Pear “Conference”

The most reliable pear for Irish gardens, giving heavy, regular crops even in less than perfect conditions. A mid- to late-season dessert pear, ready in late October. The fruit is long, juicy and sweet, with russeted skin, firm flesh and a good flavour. Also very good as a cooking pear. Pick slightly under-ripe, store in a cool, frost-free place, and bring indoors to ripen. Pear ‘Conference’ is self-fertile, so useful in small gardens, but crops better with a pollination partner; unpollinated fruit is seedless and oddly shaped. A spur-bearer; in cold conditions will do better trained onto a warm wall. Some resistance to scab.

Site: Sheltered
Soil: Rich, well-drained soil
Position: Full sun
Pick: Late October, into November
Keep: If picked under-ripe, will keep until December
Hardiness: Hardy
Pollination: Self-fertile, but crops better with a pollination partner. Pollination Group 3
Uses: Eating, cooking

Pollination notes:
Pear Conference is a self fertile variety and does not need a pollination partner, but fruiting will usually be improved if there is a compatible partner of a different variety nearby.
Suitable pollinating partners for Pear Conference are Pear Doyenné du Comice, Gorham or Williams’ Bon Chrétien