Spring 2024 - end of seasonWe have finished taking orders for this season.
Orange Pippin Trees USA logoSpecialist fruit trees for your orchard or back-yard

Shenandoah pear tree

Pyrus communis 'Shenandoah'

Shenandoah is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3

Shenandoah is a Bartlett-style pear, but it ripens 3-4 weeks later than Bartlett, and the pears can be stored in cold conditions for many months.

The flavor is sweet but less one-dimensional than Bartlett, and with some acidity when newly-picked, although this falls away in storage. The fruit size is also somewhat larger than Bartlett.

The pears are yellow/green when ripe, often with an orange flush, flecked with lenticels.

Shenandoah pear trees for sale

You can pre-order for spring 2025

  • Semi-standard 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 10ft-16ft after 10 years
    Semi-vigorous rootstock
    Out of stock

How to grow

Shenandoah flowers in the middle of the pear bloom season, alongside Bartlett. It has some resistance to fire blight, and its natural vigor helps it to resist infection.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Shenandoah was developed in the 1970s in a collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture and Ohio State University. It has a complex parentage, but Bartlett is heavily present in the ancestry and this is very much a Bartlett-style pear. It was developed to be resistant to fire blight.

Shenandoah characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Pollination group3
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Picking seasonLate
  • UsesEating fresh
  • Keeping (of fruit)3 months or more
  • General resistanceGood
  • FireblightSome resistance
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)Zone 5 (-29C)
  • Summer maximum temperaturesWarm (25-30C / 76-85F)
  • Country of originUnited States
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Flesh colourCream
  • Fruit colorGreen / Yellow