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All about apples, pears, plums, and cherries - and orchards where they are grown

Josephine de Malines Pear tree

Owner: Cheuk

Location:  Amsterdam, NOORD-HOLLAND, Netherlands

Age:Planted in about 2010
Age of this tree:16 years
Rootstock:A medium fast rootstock
Soil:Plot has peaty/acidity soil, soil is really really poor soil. I have to feed the trees a lot 
Climate at this location:zone 7a, mild sea climate, lots of sun, lots of wind, hedge to slowdown some wind
Pruning:Pruning is the only way to keep the espalier an espalier.
Tree form:Espalier
Height:Up to 6ft / 2m
Cropping:Light crops
Growth:This tree grows fairly well here
Herbicides:Manual treatment (hoeing and weeding)
Pesticides:Organic treatments
Local pests:wasps, birds, mice, sometimes fungal disease, plum moth or some other moth problem.

Owner's comments

Josephine de malines, has less fungal disease problems than winter nelis, my other pear tree. It is seldom biannular; stone forming around the seed core if it doesn't rain enough, Josephine is less attacked by insects than my winter nelis trees. Taste: less creamy than the winter nelis pear, but creamy enough, sweet, has a nice perfume, and they say its fruit flesh hold a taste of rose water. I have never tasted that in these pears, but they are nevertheless wonderfully tasty. I don't want to go to the Dutch supermaket chainstores and buy these conferance pears. I think these tasteless pears are the red delicious of the pear world. I'd rather grow something they (the chainstores) don't sell, and is really tasty. Please mind that the Josephine de Malines is a tip bearer.

Season records for this tree

  • 2022

    Spring blossom: 20 April
    Canker: Not present
    Scab: Not present
    Mildew: Not present
    Fireblight: Not present
    Cedar-apple rust: Not present
    Woolly aphid: Not present
    Codling moth: Mild attack
    Plum fruit moth: Mild attack
    Silverleaf: Not present
    Josephine de Malines has nice white flowers. It is a very healthy pear variety. I would recommend this to pear lovers who have never grown a pear tree, and want to have something special. I scan or browse my pear trees for abnormalities every time after they have blossomed. I pick off the small, but swelling fruit which display a strange form or strange colour. Chances are that these pickings are full with larvae.