Pears bloomed profusely, but no friut

This is the 5th year for 2 dwarf pears I acquired from Stark's. I lost my record of the names, but they're 2 different varieties panted within 50 feat of each other. Here in Indiana we had a late and prolonged freeze in April. I was delighted to see the profuse bloom on them in spite of that. We have a heathy wild honeybee colony within 100 yards. Blooms dropped at least 3 weeks ago and there's still no sign of fruiting. I did not spray untill the last bloom had dropped. Could the freeze have damaged them even though the bloom looked fine? This is the first year they've bloomed (it's been a long, somewhat impatient wait) and I'm tempted to fire up the trusty chain saw if they do not produce this year. That garden space could be used in a more productive manner. What do you think?

Pears are pretty tough, but a late frost, especially a freeze can wipe them out. Virtually all the fruit in this area was wiped out this year. I would expect that happened to you. Early blooming fruits are always a gamble. Knew a peach orchardists 20 or so years ago that lost his crop 10 years in a row. sold out to a developer and now the land has grown houses.

Thanks, Farmerdill. Yep, fruit is always a gamble. Odd thing is that the blossoms opened after the freeze and looked just fine.

I have read that even though the blossums may not have opened before the freeze, the reproductive parts may have been destroyed. We lost all the tree fruits here. I have seen a few plums across town that somehow escaped. The blossums on my strawberries set very few fruit. I have new everbearers that will have some later and will have other small berries that had barely came out of dormancy at the time.

I second farmerdill, the frost almost got me and I'm much warm than you. Didn't matter squirrels ended up grabbing them last week. I'm going to have to do something about my furry friends.

Thanks all. I guess you're right Vashur. Maybe I'll set aside the chainsaw for 1 more year, but I swear it's their last chance. Good news is my pie cherry is bearing, though less heartily this year. My mini nectarine in a large pot was protected and is fruiting well. I have to protect them both from squirrels and birds. CoreHHI - have you ever tried just talking reason with the squirrels?

I tried talking reason with them about climbing my screens to jump on the bird feeder and they just didn't seem to listen. My dogs just aren't fast enough or smart enough to catch them. Neighbors cats can't seem to stop them either so we're at a stand off at the moment. I have a possum somewhere out in the back yard, to bad he doesn't eat squirrel. I don't really know what a possum eats just know i don't want to pick one up. Dogs do tree him every month or so. I can't figure out were he lives durning the day.

Sideways, pears take a long time to produce, you may be waiting several years more. I have 40 pears that are five years old and only two trees have fruit on them this year (both of those are asians which fruit earlier). If you don't want to wait until the seventh or later year to get a decent crop you should get out the trusty chainsaw right now. The old phrase is "plant pears for your heirs".

Scott

Thanks, Scott. Patience is a virtue for a gardener. I didn't realize that pears, even dwarfs should take so long to produce. I've decided that the new garden pond can be rerouted and the pears preserved for future generations.

Dan