Josephine de Malines pear trees
£40.50Josephine de Malines pear trees for sale
Choose a size - bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree,Pyrodwarf rootstock£40.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
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Ask our fruit tree experts on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Next deliveries
Delivery from week commencing 16th March 2026 onwards.
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
All about Josephine de Malines pear trees
Josephine de Malines is a traditional winter pear, noted for its high quality flavour and excellent keeping qualities.
Pick the pears as late as possible, and then keep them in a fridge or cold garage. Bring them indoors to ripen in a fruit bowl.
Growing and Training
Josephine de Malines is a weak-growing variety, and therefore best grown on the more vigorous rootstocks and/or in rich soils. It is however an excellent cropper - and a good example of the apparent contradiction that weak-growing varieties can nevertheless crop heavily.
The tree is hardy and reliable and will survive in most conditions. However for fruit production it is important to note that Josephine de Malines is a very late-ripening variety and therefore is best grown in areas where warm dry weather persists into late autumn.
Recommended pollinators for Josephine de Malines pear trees
Josephine de Malines is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit.
The following varieties are good pollinators for Josephine de Malines.
If you are not sure about pollination requirements just ask us.
WilliamsWilliams is a classic self-fertile English pear, with good flavour, heavy-cropping, and quite easy to grow.
ConferenceConference is a popular and reliable English pear, well-suited to the UK climate.
ConcordeA marriage of Conference and Comice - Concorde is easy to grow, heavy crops, excellent flavour.
OnwardOnward is high quality dessert pear, related to Doyenne du Comice but easier to grow.
Winter NelisA late-season dessert pear from Belgium, with an excellent sweet flavour.
Santa ClausAs the name suggests, Santa Claus is a late ripening dessert pear which keeps until Christmas.
Beurre SuperfinA traditional French 19th century pear, widely considered one of the best for flavour.
- More pollinators >
History
Raised in the 1830s by fruit enthusiast Major Esperen from Malines in northern Belgium. This city is today more usually known by its Flemish name Mechelen. The Major named his new variety after his wife Josephine.
Josephine de Malines characteristics
- Gardening skillAverage
- Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
- Flowering group4
- Pollinating othersAverage
- Fruit bearingPartial tip-bearer
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates
- Picking seasonVery late
- CroppingHeavy
- Keeping (of fruit)1-2 months
- Food usesEating fresh
- Disease resistanceAverage
- Scab (Apple and Pear)Some resistance
- Country of originBelgium
- Period of origin1800 - 1849
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourGreen / Yellow
- AwardsRHS AGM (current)
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS.
Find out more.
Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions.
Find out more.
More about 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.
