Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Question and Answer >> About Gardening

Identifying 'Kieffer' Pears for Preserves

Rock-hard, pale green-yellow pears with brown specks that hold shape when cooked are 'Kieffer'. Gritty flesh makes them poor for fresh eating but perfect for preserves. Cows and mules love them raw.

About Gardening: Pear Tree Stony Pit Virus: Knotty Fruit, No Cure; Asian Pear White Thread Covering: Powdery Mildew and Atomic Grow Organic Fix; Stopping Bradford Pear Fruit with Hormone Sprays; How to Harvest and Store Pears for Best Quality; Growing Pears: High-Quality Fruit Unavailable in Stores; Thinning Pear Fruit: Preventing Limb Breakage and Improving Harvest Quality; Why 'Bartlett' Pear Is Not Recommended for Georgia: Fire Blight Susceptibility and Resistant Alternatives; Callery Pear Fruit: What Those Tiny Pears Really Are; Best Pear Variety for Southern Preserves: Kieffer; Dogs Eating Pears: Safe Outdoor Treat, Indoor Mess Risk

Garden Articles

Grafting Pears on Quince BA 29 Rootstock: Interstem Techniques and Compatibility

Mystery Fruit Tree: Pear or Wild Seedling?

Identifying a Mystery Pear Variety from Fruit and Seed

Eradicating Prickly Pear: Diesel Poisons Soil; Use Biological Control

Bradford Pear Stump Sprouts: Rootstock Takeover

Bradford Pear Cedar-Quince Rust: Orange Spikes on Fruit

Canning Pears: Resources for Home Preservation

Plants

Three Delicious Ways to Preserve Pears: Butter, Chutney, and Chow Chow

Patience Is Key for Non-Bearing Pear Trees

Topping Bradford Pears: A Desperation Measure with Risks

Flowering Pear Varieties: Skip Bradford, Choose Chanticleer or Aristocrat

When to Harvest Pears: The Firmness Test

Fire Blight on Bradford Pear: Prune Out, Disinfect Tools

Bradford Pear's Thorny Legacy: How "Sterile" Trees Became Invasive