Winter 2026Order now for delivery from week commencing 16th March onwards.
01759 392007

Dessert pear trees

Dessert pears are amongst the most desirable of all orchard fruits, with their characteristic sweet flavours. Most of the varieties we know today arose in the first half of the 19th century, when there was an explosion of interest among amateur and professional growers in raising new varieties, particularly in Belgium, France, and England. The aim was to achieve a buttery soft flesh and exquisite rich flavour.

Unlike apples, dessert pears can't usually be eaten straight from the tree, and should not be left to ripen on the tree. Instead aim to pick them just before they are ripe, and then place them in a fruit bowl for a few days.

  • Buy Beth pear trees
    An easy and reliable early-season pear, with a very good melting flavour.
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Beurre Hardy pear trees
    A classic French pear with a very good flavour, but grows best in a warm sheltered situation.
    £39.75 - £64.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Beurre Superfin pear trees
    A traditional French 19th century pear, widely considered one of the best for flavour.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Celebration NUVAR pear trees
    Nuvar Celeberation is a large modern dessert pear.
    £39.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Christie is a traditional Scottish dessert pear.
    £58.75buy
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Clapps Favourite pear trees
    An attractive red-flushed early-season pear from the USA.
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4

  • Buy Concorde pear trees
    A marriage of Conference and Comice - Concorde is easy to grow, heavy crops, excellent flavour.
    £38.25 - £63.00buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Conference pear trees
    Conference is a popular and reliable English pear, well-suited to the UK climate.
    £38.25 - £63.00buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Moors Giant is a natural sport of the popular Conference pear - all the same qualities, but with much larger fruit size.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Doyenne du Comice pear trees
    Doyenne du Comice is arguably the best flavoured of all pears.
    £38.25 - £63.00buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Fondante d'Automne pear trees
    An old fashioned French pear with a notably sweet flavour.
    £38.25 - £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4

  • Buy Glou Morceau pear trees
    A traditional 18th century Belgian pear with a notably rich sweet flavour.
    £38.25buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 2

  • Buy Gorham pear trees
    A reliable early 20th century American pear, with a sweet creamy flesh.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Humbug is an unusual pear variety, the fruits have distinctive green and yellow stripes.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Invincible pear trees
    Invincible is a high quality pear which can also cope with difficult conditions.
    £38.25 - £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 2

  • Jargonelle is a sweet early summer pear, and will grow in most situations.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Josephine de Malines pear trees
    A classic 19th century winter pear with a high quality flavour.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Very late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)

  • Buy Louise Bonne of Jersey pear trees
    An attractive red-flushed French pear variety with sweet melting flesh.
    £38.25 - £58.75buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 2
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)

  • Buy Merton Pride pear trees
    One of the best English pears, with a notably juicy buttery flesh.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4

  • Buy Moonglow pear trees
    A high quality early season dessert and culinary pear, very resistant to fireblight.
    £38.25 - £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Obelisk pear trees
    A useful dwarf pear tree for small gardens, it grows with a tidy upright habit and is self-fertile.
    £38.25 - £60.00buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Onward pear trees
    Onward is high quality dessert pear, related to Doyenne du Comice but easier to grow.
    £39.75 - £58.75buy
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)

  • Buy Packham's Triumph pear trees
    Perhaps the best known Australian pear, producing large quantities of small but sweet-flavoured pears.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Pitmaston Duchess pear trees
    Pitmaston Duchess is a traditional English dual-purpose, noted for the very large size of its pears.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)

  • Buy Santa Claus pear trees
    As the name suggests, Santa Claus is a late ripening dessert pear which keeps until Christmas.
    £40.50 - £59.00buy
    • Picking season: Very late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4

  • Buy Sensation pear trees
    A red-coloured sport of the popular Williams pear, with a similar good flavour.
    £40.50buy
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3

  • Buy Williams pear trees
    Williams is a classic self-fertile English pear, with good flavour, heavy-cropping, and quite easy to grow.
    £38.25 - £61.50buy
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 3
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)

  • Buy Winter Nelis pear trees
    A late-season dessert pear from Belgium, with an excellent sweet flavour.
    £38.25 - £58.75buy
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
    • Flowering group: 4