Comice Pear Trees

Comice Pear Trees: Eating, Late Season

Doyenne du Comice is an all-time classic dessert pear, one of the most popular on European farms. Very sweet, with perfectly juicy, melting flesh. Pale yellow when ripe, sometimes they develop a bit of russeting or a bit of a rosy flush.

They are vigorous, upright and heavy cropping. They flower late, so they are suitable for frosty places.

Browse our range of pear trees, other mini patio trees, or all our fruit trees.

Delivery season: Bareroot plants are delivered in late Autumn to Spring, about November-March inclusive. Pot grown plants, year round. 

Features:

• Self Sterile.
• Susceptible to scab, resistant to mildew - best grown in the East of Britain.
• Pollination Group C.
• Harvest when green in November.
• Store in a cold place to ripen slowly.
• Bring into a warm room to ripen in about 2 days.
• Pot grown delivery: Year round
• Bareroot Delivery: Nov-March.

Pollination Partners for Comice:
To make fruit, all pear trees need to be pollinated by another variety.
Doyenne du Comice is in pollination group C.
This means that it will pollinate with trees in groups B & C (except Onward).
Please see our guide to Pollinating Pear Trees for a full list of partners.

Growing Comice:
Rich soil is important - dig in plenty of good manure and compost before planting.
Soil drainage must be good.
The more sun your trees get the better your crops will be.

Ripening Comice Pears:
They are best picked when still green and then stored in a cold place, where they will slowly ripen.
To ripen them quickly, bring some into a warm room & they will be ready in about 2 days.
With some planning, you can have fresh, ripe pears on Christmas Day.

Diseases: Comice is susceptible to scab but resistant to mildew: this makes them a better choice for the East of England & Scotland, not so good for Wales or the West of England where scab is more common.

Did You Know?
A French variety from the mid 1800s, brought to Britain in 1858 by Sir Francis Dyke Acland. 

Onward and Concorde were bred from Comice.

Pear Tree Delivery Shapes:

Most of our fruit trees are delivered in up to 3 shapes (maiden, bush, and half standard), and you can buy selected varieties as potted mini patio trees: scroll up to see what's in stock. 

Maiden: Unbranched tree, the most basic starting size, which you can train into cordons, espaliers, or the forms below (apart from mini patio trees).
Bush: Freestanding tree with a short trunk about 60cm tall. It will grow to about 3m. Ideal for small gardens.
Half-Standard: A freestanding form with a trunk about 120cm tall. It will grow into a full sized, "normal" tree, about 4m. Ideal for orchards, easy to mow underneath.

Cordon: Comice is a spur-bearer, suitable for cordons and espaliers.
Mini Patio Tree: Only sold pot-grown, these use a dwarfing rootstock to drastically reduce the tree's vigour and restrict the mature size. They are suitable for large patio containers, and for small gardens where a normal-sized bush or half-standard form won't fit.

Guide to Fruit Tree Sizing.

Growing Mini Patio Trees in Pots:
Dwarf trees do very well in large containers of rich potting soil. During summer, it is essential to provide consistent moisture, without overwatering, and to feed lightly. 
Change as much of the compost as you can every three years.

Prepare your site before planting:
Improving the soil helps trees establish quickly and be productive for years. Preparing weeks or months in advance gives best results: fill the planting hole back up, don't leave it open to either dry out or fill with water.

• Destroy weeds and grass,
• Dig the soil over, remove stones, then mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades, unless you are on heavy clay:
• On thick clay soil, only dig in some grit to improve drainage and raise the level a little. Then apply organic matter as a mulch over the soil as normal.

Spacing pear trees

• Freestanding bushes: 15-18 feet (5-6m) between trees and rows.
• Freestanding half-standards: 18-30 feet (6-10m) between trees and rows.

In general, allow 1 more metre between rows than between trees along the row.

• Wire-trained cordons: 60-100cm apart along a row.
• Espaliers: 10-18 feet (3.5-6m) apart.

• Watch how to plant a fruit tree for a bush or half-standard.
• To grow a cordon or espalier, you need to install sturdy training wires.

Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Accessories:
For bush and half standard trees, a tree planting pack, which includes a wooden support stake & rubber tie (a bamboo cane is enough support for a maiden), and a biodegradable mulch mat, with pegs, to preserve soil moisture stops and prevent weeds.

We strongly recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all transplanted trees.

Winter wash and grease are effective, organic pest prevention.