Williams pear trees

Williams pear tree
  • Best seller
  • Pick: Early-season (early September)
  • Flowering group: 3
  • Uses: Eat fresh 
  • Pollination partners
RHS AGM for Williams

One of the oldest English dessert pears, it was discovered in the late 18th century and quickly became popular. In England and Europe it is known as Williams or sometimes Williams Bon Chretien, after the nurseryman who first propagated it, whereas in North America it is usually known as Bartlett.

If you buy tinned pears, they are very likely to be this variety. Don't let this put you off though - Williams is a good early-season pear variety for the gardener too, with a very good flavour and fairly easy to grow.

Williams pear trees for sale

Deliveries start September 2019 (or December for bare-root).

Mature size* Supplied as Price Quantity

Pot-grown fruit trees
Medium  (2.5m - 3m after 5-10 years) 2-year patio-tree - 11.5l pot - Quince Eline rootstock £33.45
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) 2-year bush-trained - 12l pot - Quince A rootstock £33.45
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) Half-standard premium - 12l pot - Quince A rootstock £37.95

Bare-root fruit trees
Medium  (2.5m - 3m after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - Quince Eline rootstock £19.50
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - Quince A rootstock £19.50
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - Quince A rootstock  Interstem £19.95
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) 2-year bush-trained - bare-root - Quince A rootstock £27.95
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) Half-standard - bare-root - Quince A rootstock £30.95
Full size  (6m+ after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - Pyrus c. rootstock £19.50
Full size  (6m+ after 5-10 years) Standard 1.75m - bare-root - Pyrus c. rootstock £30.95

Pot-grown cordon fruit trees
Medium  (2.5m - 3m after 5-10 years) Cordon premium - 12l pot - Quince Eline rootstock £34.95

Bare-root cordon fruit trees
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) Cordon - bare-root - Quince A rootstock £26.95

Delivery period: Pot-grown trees can be delivered from September onwards. Bare-root trees can be delivered from mid-November onwards. Within those periods you can specify your preferred month of delivery during the checkout process. It is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you.

*Mature size: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. See photos of trees as supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime.

Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. Click here to be notified when we get more trees of this variety.

Alternatives to Williams pear trees

  • Alternative fruit trees - Gorham pear trees

    Gorham pear trees

    Developed in the USA, Williams is one of its parents.
    Mid-season (4) SF
    Eat | Cook 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Sensation pear trees

    Sensation pear trees

    A red-coloured sport of the popular Williams pear, with a similar good flavour.
    Early-season (3) 
    Eat 

Summary features of Williams

Growing

  • Gardening skill: Suitable for beginners?
  • Cropping: Good
  • Fertility: Partially self-fertile?
  • Flowering group: 3?
  • Pollinating others: Average?
  • Ploidy: Diploid?
  • Vigour: Average growth?
  • Bearing regularity: Regular?
  • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer?
  • Fruit persistence: Normal ripening?
  • Overall disease resistance: Poor?
  • Scab: Some susceptibility?
  • Fireblight: Some susceptibility?

Uses

  • Picking season: Early?
  • Use / keeping: 1 week?
  • Flavour quality: Good?
  • Flavour style: Sweeter
  • Good for eating fresh
  • Drying / Discoloring: Slightly oxidising?

Identification

  • Country of origin: United Kingdom
  • Period of origin: 1750 - 1799
  • Fruit colour: Green - light
  • Leaf colour: Green
  • RHS AGM: RHS AGM
    1993
  • Popularity: Best sellers?

Climate

  • Frost resistance: Good resistance?
  • Warm climates?
  • Temperate climates
  • Tolerates cold winters
  • UK Zone 2 - Northern UK: Yes
  • Planting position: Full sun preferred

Pollination guide for Williams

Williams is in flowering group 3. Williams is partially self-fertile, but fruiting will be improved if there is a compatible tree of a different variety nearby. Since it flowers in the middle of the blossom season it can be pollinated by most other pear trees.

How to grow Williams pear trees

Make sure you pick the crop just before it becomes ripe - which will be late August or early September in the UK.

Williams is generally easy to grow but can be susceptible to scab in wetter areas.

Cropping is usually reliable even in less than ideal conditions, and Williams is a good choice for pear enthusiasts in the north of the UK.

Historical details

UK, 18th century. This pear is known both as Williams and Bartlett.

The fascinating origins of this pear were recorded by the Victorian fruit enthusiast Robert Hogg. He credited its discovery to either a Mr Wheeler or a Mr Stair, both schoolmasters in the town of Aldermaston, Berkshire, England some time before 1770. It was subsequently propagated by a nurseryman, Mr Williams of Turnham Green - who named it the Williams pear (perhaps to cut through the confusion surrounding its origins).

In 1799 trees were sent to the United States - a good demonstration of the close ties that already existed between England and the newly-independent United States. The imported Williams pear trees were planted in an orchard near Boston and came to the attention of a local nurseryman, Mr Bartlett, who played an important role in popularising the variety in the USA. It appears the original variety name was uncertain by this stage, so Bartlett (nicely repeating the decision of his English counterpart) decided to give it his own name.

In this way the new variety became known as Bartlett in North America and Williams in the UK and Europe.

Hogg suggests that the Bartlett pear was well suited to the climate of its new home, and was soon regarded as "the finest pear of its season". It became a major commercial variety in the USA.

Botanical name

Pyrus communis 'Williams'


UK-grown trees All our trees are grown in the UK.


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