Fruits and Nuts: Bradford Pears??, 1 by catmad

catmad wrote:
I know that Bradford Pears are not supposed to produce anything other than little tiny pea-sized fruit. One of mine wasn't listening. Two years ago, there was one branch of full sized pears that we found by accident, but even following the directions to let them ripen on the counter, they never did. This year it's half the tree. Found them yesterday, they're about half the size, and the same shape as a Barlett. I'm wondering whether to try to harvest any down the road, or just leave them for the cows (once I find out if it's safe).
Any thoughts or experiences? These trees are quite large, and may be pretty old. I've also never noticed that they smell rotten when they bloom, supposedly a charachteristic of Bradford pears. Maybe they've been misidentified?

This message was edited Jul 25, 2008 9:30 AM