I think they are crisp when picked. I think I got 3 lbs of them about 2 weeks after they were picked and after 2 weeks of having them the final one was softening, but not like Red Delicious mealy. They are sweet enough to compete with the tart. I’m not sure how Alkmene compares to Cox. It has been probably 5 years since I’ve had Cox. No one grows it here in any quantity because of its fussiness. Alkmene appears to ripen at the same time as Zestar. I think Zestar has a long picking window though based off my tree’s crop last year.
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If you’re not using a dwarf stock like OHF.87, OHF.333, or Quince, then you’re just “planting pears for your heirs.”
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I would say 5-6 years is on the low side for pears. Most pears take longer 7+ years on standard rootstock. Some pears will start producing in just a couple of years.
Yes, I was trying to be optimistic with 5-6 years 
I have some 14-year old pears that have yet to fruit.
My experience has been that there are two categories of pear rootstock for precocity, the quince and all others. I notice almost no difference between any of the OH’s and seedling. OHxF333 may be a bit more precocious, but it doesn’t hold a candle to quince. Mrs G, you had some extra bad luck there, my quince pears nearly all fruited by their 5th year. I do still have one that has not fruited and its going into its 7th year.
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Man that is crazy it takes so long. For me in the Austin area trees on callery (our standard) fruited in there third year almost always. There were a few exeptions, Tenn., Leona and of course the lazy dog Warren. But nearly every other variety fruited in its third year after planting. Magness on Quince and Abate Fetel, also on Quince fruit in year three as well only on much smaller trees. What a difference the different areas make! Oh the Quince I was using was ba29c.
Drew
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Scott,
That sounds like my experience exactly. Everyone says pears are easy to grow but that’s not really completely true. Some pears such as harrow delight , harrow sweet , etc are really easy to grow. Some pears are a real pain to grow! Most Asian pears are very quick to start producing fruit. My recommendation is plant a bunch of easy to grow pears and enjoy those while waiting on warren and others like it to produce and the wait seems much shorter that way.
We decided to get walnut and butternut trees this year instead of adding any more fruit trees as we have some in the ground already from last spring and nut trees can take so long to produce a harvest. We’ve ordered two grafted varieties and two seedling from Burnt Ridge (walnuts) and two seedling butternut trees from the same. Not 100% sure how all will do years down the road as Thousand Cankers Disease is already in my state, VA.
Have ordered pear and apple scionwood and hope we get all or most of the varieties we wanted. It will be my first time grafting but I’m really eager to try. I have an established apple and an ornamental pear I’ll be trying to top work as well as trying to graft to a few of the young trees from last spring.
On the small fruits front, I’ve ordered a goumi and want to order a couple clove currants, elderberries, and some raspberry and blackberry plants to replace a few that died from last spring’s planting.
And, I’ve ordered lots of different vegetable and flower seeds. Supposed to only have a small garden this year but I think I’m a little addicted to collecting/trying new varieties. I stick the seeds in the freezer so they last longer.
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Wildscaper,
Did the trees get very big there? There is a lot of heat, sunshine, and water that close to the gulf and very fertile ground. That’s probably about as close to ideal location as you can get for growing trees. I think most people know this but I will say it anyway the gulf of Mexico drains the entire missippi river which is half of the United States. In places like Kansas and Missouri modern farming practices such as plowing have been used over 100 years now which caused over 20 feet of soil erosion in many places due to wind and water. Areas such as Houston are gorgeous! The areas along rivers and ultimately the gulf of Mexico wound up with fertility that can be matched in few places in the world. Hurricanes such as Ivan left many minerals and sea plants deposited in places such as Galveston in the wake of the storm. The tropical storms in those locations have power far greater than can be imagined. I saw what was left of some of the houses. Those storms are devastating to places like Galveston but they leave behind very rich deposits sometimes in the form of seaweed that stinks up the beaches for months before it turns into the richest soil ever seen. Yes they can grow pears there!
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Since looking at my peach tree and the borer damage more closely I’ve decided to take it out of its misery. So not only will I b ordering a cherry I will add another peach tree to my order. I was hoping to turn that peach into a Frankenpeach this year.
Do you think you could cut it off below the damage and rind graft? I grafted a new variety onto an old tree two years ago and expect fruit this year , depending on the weather. Maybe not the most practical thing to do to a 20 year old peach tree but it seems healthy.
Clark in the Austin area it is exactly opposite as you describe! It is quite a ways from the Gulf and the soil is horrible. Mostly rock outcroppings at the foothills of the hill country. There is no ground water as it basically never rains in summer and when it does it runs of due to lack of soil. Add in the none stop one hundred degree heat and it can be a night mare. But I think these challenges may have been the reason for earlier fruiting. Eventually pears on Callery got big but it took a long time to get there.
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My damage is at the soil line so it’s pretty much a goner.
I will limit my response to only fruit trees /plants
Nectar Boysenberry
Black Butte Blackberry
Freedom Blackberry
Traveler Blackberry
Prime Ark 45 Blackberry
Still searching for a nursery selling Maraschino Cherry Trees…
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I have two pears on Callery, is that more precocious than OHxF? One of them, either a Pineapple or Orient, can’t remember which is which, grew like gangbusters last year. Central leader is well over 6ft, and many large side branches. It was my best performing tree growth wise of all my fruit trees.
The other tree, well, it did sprout a few little feathers, but very underwhelming.
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They will be fine on callery and fruit before you know it.
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I’ll try not to divert from this thread too much, but we were in part of the Shenandoah valley last month, and it was very nice, even in winter. We were in the Roanoke-Lexington area. We wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Pkwy in that part of the state but it was too foggy. But, we would like to go back soon. My first time in that part of the country and enjoyed it.
We have some mountains where we live, but they pale in comparison to the West Virginia, western Virginia area.
Just wanted to say you live in a beautiful area.
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I see, well that’s too bad, sounds like it is a lost cause.
Marachino is a process not a variety. You want Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties
…from Wiki…
A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties.
39th is still looking for a Maraschino Cherry tree as much as I am still looking for a nursery that sells the Marshmallow tree that someone posted a video of from last year! 
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