Pear Conference 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: ShelteredSoil: Rich, well-drained soilPosition: Full sunPick: Late October, into NovemberKeep: If picked under-ripe, will keep until DecemberHardiness: HardyPollination: Self-fertile, but crops better with a pollination partner. Pollination Group 3Uses: Eating, cooking Pollination notes:Pear Conference is a self fertile variety 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 Conference are Pear Doyenné du Comice, Gorham or Williams’ Bon Chrétien Learn more about fruit tree rootstocks During the bareroot season, our pears are pre pruned before being dispatched by mail order.