The most reliable pear for Irish gardens, giving heavy, regular crops even in less than perfect conditions. A mid- to late-season dessert pear, ready in late October. The fruit is long, juicy and sweet, with russeted skin, firm flesh and a good flavour. Also very good as a cooking pear. Pick slightly under-ripe, store in a cool, frost-free place, and bring indoors to ripen. Pear Conference is self-fertile, so useful in small gardens, but crops better with a pollination partner; unpollinated fruit is seedless and oddly shaped. A spur-bearer; in cold conditions will do better trained onto a warm wall. Some resistance to scab.

Site:Sheltered
Soil:Rich, well-drained soil
Position:Full sun
Pick:Late October, into November
Keep:If picked under-ripe, will keep until December
Hardiness:Hardy
Pollination:Self-fertile, but crops better with a pollination partner. Pollination Group 3
Uses:Eating, cooking

Pollination notes:
Pear Conference is aself fertilevariety and does not need a pollination partner, but fruiting will usually be improved if there is a compatible partner of a different variety nearby.
Suitable pollinating partners for Pear ConferencearePear Doyenn du Comice, Gorham orWilliams Bon Chrtien