Home Fruit Garden Tour – Asian Pears

Asian PearsThe groups of fruiting trees known as Asian Pears comprise several species native to the Far East. Asian pears are not strong growers.  Consequently propagation calls for grafting onto a vigorous European pear or wild pear rootstock.  The tendency of Asian pears to produce dwarf trees is an advantage to the space-conscious fruit grower; they grow to half the size of a European pear on identical rootstock and adopt a more manageable, spreading habit.

In its homeland, the Asian pear is highly prized for its large size, round apple-like shape, delicacy and sweetness.  Their large size makes them an extravagance to eat alone, so they are usually regarded as a treat or given away as gifts.  There seems to be a vast cross-cultural consensus that Asian Pears are best eaten fresh, out of hand. However, their sugary juice can also serve as vinegar-making stock or as a substitute for simple syrup.

The asian pears in the Fruit Garden are:

Chojuro
Mishirasu
Ichiban Nashi
Hamese
Mishirasu
Atago
Shinseiki
Kosui