Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Seckel European Pear Bareroot

History: The history of the Seckel pear is somewhat contentious. It was said to have been named after a Mr. Seckel who discovered the variety growing as a sapling near Philadelphia in the late 1700s or early 1800s. Some say it is the only commercial American pear since it was thought to have been a wild seedling but others believe the tree sprouted from a seed left by German immigrants. Either way, this lovely little pear is still grown on a small scale across the States as a specialty fruit.

Why We Grow It: Although it is small in size, this heirloom is popular for eating fresh due to its high quality flavour. The skin is ruddy green with a pronounced red blush and the flesh is very sweet with a spicy flavour, which is why it's sometimes called 'Sugar Pear.' Aside from being excellent for fresh eating, this pear is great canned, pickled, and spiced. As an added bonus, the tree is resistant to fireblight.

Customer Suggestion: One of our wonderful customers shared a recipe for Pickled 'Sickle Pears' (aka Seckel) that had been passed down from his great grandmother. We haven't tested it out yet, but Seckel pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, vinegar and cloves, cooked and marinated, then pickled sounds very intriguing! Thanks for sharing David!


        $56.50

        Rootstock
        Size

        30 in stock

        Fruit Traits:

        Recommended Use: Canning, fresh eating

        Fruit Size: Small

        Storage: Keeps until November when stored in cool, humid conditions and December in cold storage

        Harvest: September - Mid

        Perry Class (if applicable):

        Tree Traits:

        Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5

        Soil Preferance: Sandy loam, loam, clay loam, intolerant of chalky soils. Prefers average to moist conditions with well-drained soils, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring.

        Flowering Time: Middle

        Bloom Colour: White

        Pollination Requirements: Requires a pollinator of a different pear variety (European or Asian) that blooms around the same time. This variety is incompatible with Bartlett and Bartlett sports.

        Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)

        General Growth Habit: Weakly vigorous with a slender and upright growth habit, compact, crops are decently reliable of decent size. Somewhat susceptible to scab and susceptible to stony pit but somewhat resistant to mildew and fireblight.

        Overall Disease Resistance Rating*:

        *this rating is combined with our experience growing in our test orchards combined with already available information on the cultivar.

        Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of plants across Canada. We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

        Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc.

        We have simplified our crop inventory for grafted fruit trees into two sizes:

        1m+ Grade: this often has some feathering, and is measured including the rootstock.

        50-80cm Grade: this is like a 'b-grade' tree, sometimes with minor scaring or bent, these trees are priced accordingly.

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        Seckel European Pear

        Seckel European Pear Bareroot

        $56.50

        $56.50

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