Summer 2024Pre-orders are now open. Deliveries will begin again in September for pot grown trees and December for bare-rooted or mixed tree orders.
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Onward pear trees

Pyrus communis
Onward
Onward is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Mid
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 4
  • Awards: RHS AGM (former) 1993
Onward is high quality dessert pear, related to Doyenne du Comice but easier to grow.

Onward pear trees for sale

Pot-grown

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

  • PG12-year bush-trained 11.5L pot-grown tree Quince Eline rootstock £62.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree Quince A rootstock £57.75
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • PG3Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree Quince A rootstock £63.50
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)

Bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root tree Quince Eline rootstock £39.75
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR22-year bush-trained bare-root tree Quince Eline rootstock £47.95
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR3Cordon-trained bare-root tree Quince Eline rootstock £49.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR41-year bare-root tree Quince A rootstock £38.25
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR52-year bush-trained bare-root tree Quince A rootstock £47.50
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR62-year half-standard bare-root tree Quince A rootstock £48.50
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
Next deliveries

You can pre-order now, deliveries start in September.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95. It is calculated when you add trees to your basket, based on your postcode.

Onward is an attractive yellow pear, often with an orange flush, and occasionally some russet. The flavour is of high quality and it is a reliable cropper - all in all, an excellent garden pear variety.

Onward was developed from the well-known French variety Doyenne du Comice, usually considered the best-flavoured of all pears, but somewhat fussy in its requirements. The goal was to retain the excellent flavour and texture of Comice but in a tree that was easier to grow in the UK.

 

 

How to grow

Far easier to grow in almost every respect than Doyenne du Comice, crops are reliable and the blossom is usefully resistant to spring frosts.

The main horticultural challenge is that it can be difficult to spot when Onward pears are ripe, so you need to be alert from mid-September onwards in the UK, to make sure you pick the crop at the right time. The pears should be picked when still relatively hard and ripened in a fruit bowl, as they will not ripen correctly on the tree.

Note that contrary to what our pollination notes say, Onward will not reliably pollinate Doyenne du Comice or vice versa - they are too closely related.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Developed at the National Fruit Trials at Wisley, in Surrey. 1940s. It is a cross of Doyenne du Comice and an old Laxton's variety called Superb.

Onward characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Pollinating othersAverage

Using

  • Picking seasonMid
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)1 week
  • Food usesEating fresh

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Fruit colourOrange flush
  • AwardsRHS AGM (former)