Bulgaria Pear Tree | Bare Root, Zone 2

Representative photo of green pears with a red blush on the tree, not Bulgaria itself

Bulgaria Pear (Spring 2027)

$49.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

See trees that will pollenize it Pear Pollination Map

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceNot tested yet

Fire blight : Unknown, no published data yet
Pear scab : Unknown, no published data yet

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our pear disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Bulgaria Pear is a pear tree rated hardy to zone 2 from St. Lawrence Nurseries' rating (winters to -50°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for a European pear).

Hardy to	Zone 2 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 2, colder half included (winters to -50°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 800 hours (600 to 1,100). Our estimate. No published figure exists for this variety yet. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), mid spring here. We haven't found published bloom data for Bulgaria, so plan on a second pear nearby. A Bartlett-season pear is the safest match until its bloom time is recorded. Good partners we carry: Bartlett Pear, Dana Hovey Pear, Flemish Beauty Pear, Honeysweet Pear and 29 more. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Pear Pollination Map.
Rootstock and size	Ussurian: full size, about 20 to 30 ft tall unpruned. The hardiest pear species there is. Plant 18 to 20 ft apart. Our rootstock guide.
Good for	Fresh eating (7/10). Scores are our 1 to 10 ratings, but we're still new to this one, so they lean on published descriptions and other growers rather than our own harvests. 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	Sometimes damaged by deer.
What you get	Bare root, 3-5 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

This is our first year growing Bulgaria, so everything below is secondhand until we get more long-term data from our own mother trees.

Overview

Bulgaria is a very hardy pear that St. Lawrence Nurseries rates to -50F or colder. Despite the name, St. Lawrence lists it as a Russian release.

Origin and History

According to St. Lawrence Nurseries, Bulgaria is a release from the South-Ural Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable Growing in Russia and "a newcomer to the United States." St. Lawrence says less is known about this one, and we haven't found anything else published on it, including its parentage.

Fruit and Uses

St. Lawrence describes the fruit as green with a red blush, ripening in early September around the same time as Bolshaya, and says it's "described as an excellent eating pear." That's about all that's been published on the fruit so far, so we'll add our own notes once our trees start bearing.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are grafted onto Ussurian pear, a full size rootstock that's hardy to -50F or more. Plan on 18 to 20 feet between trees, or a bit closer if you'll prune every year to keep the canopy narrow.

Pollination

Bulgaria needs a pollenizer. We haven't found published bloom data for it, and we've estimated it as a mid-season bloomer. Nova, Flemish Beauty, Hudar, Frost and Waterville all bloom mid-season, though none of them are rated quite as hardy as Bulgaria.

Cold Hardiness

St. Lawrence Nurseries rates Bulgaria to -50F or colder, which is zone 2 on our scale, and that's where we've listed it. Since it's new to the US and St. Lawrence says less is known about it, we'll keep a close eye on how ours handle Montana winters.

About the photo: this isn’t Bulgaria itself. Photos of Bulgaria are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Kopie van pistoolpeer 1” by Steve beurms, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

Questions we get about Bulgaria Pear

Does Bulgaria Pear need a pollenizer?

Yes. Bulgaria Pear needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. We haven't found published bloom data for it, so plan on a second pear nearby. A Bartlett-season pear is the safest match until its bloom time is recorded. Partners we carry include Bartlett Pear, Dana Hovey Pear, Flemish Beauty Pear.

How cold hardy is Bulgaria Pear?

We list Bulgaria Pear at zone 2, which means winters down to about -50°F. That comes from St. Lawrence Nurseries, which rates it to -50°F or colder, not from our own winters yet. We'll keep a close eye on how ours handle Montana winters.

How many chill hours does Bulgaria Pear need?

About 800 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 600 and 1,100. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. Origin isn't well documented, so this is an estimate based on typical European pears (about 800 hours). Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

How big does Bulgaria Pear get?

We graft Bulgaria Pear onto Ussurian (full size), which makes a tree roughly 20 to 30 ft tall if you never prune it. Plant 18 to 20 ft apart.

What is Bulgaria Pear good for?

Our top use scores for Bulgaria Pear are fresh eating (7/10). Since we're still new to it, that score leans on St. Lawrence's description rather than our own harvests.

Is Bulgaria Pear disease resistant?

We don't know yet. Nobody has published solid disease data on Bulgaria Pear for fire blight and pear scab, so we list it as unknown instead of guessing. That doesn't mean it's weak. Plenty of the plants we grow have never been through formal disease trials. Our pear disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Bulgaria Pear?

Sometimes. Deer browse Bulgaria Pear now and then, so protect young plants where deer pressure is high.

What arrives, and when does Bulgaria Pear ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 3-5 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.

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Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Bulgaria Pear

Bulgaria Pear needs a different European pear nearby to set fruit. Every tree below blooms at the same time and has pollen that works for it. Plant partners within about 100 feet.

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

Pollination Needs a partner

Pollen Not tested yet

33 trees we carry will pollenize it. 24 in stock now.