Honeysweet Pear (Spring 2027)

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

Overview

Honeysweet is a Seckel-type pear from Purdue, bigger than Seckel with the same rich, very sweet flavor, and it has good fire blight resistance.

Origin and History

According to its plant patent (Jules Janick, Purdue Research Foundation, 1979), it came from a 1955 cross of Seckel and a selection called US 220, made by L.F. Hough at Rutgers. The seedlings were planted at Purdue in 1956 and screened for fire blight, and a few were lost to severe winters along the way. This one first fruited in 1967 and was picked out in 1969. US 220 is itself a cross of Vermont Beauty and Roi Charles de Wurtemberg, so Vermont Beauty is a grandparent.

Fruit and Uses

The patent describes fruit about 2¼ to 2½ inches across that ripens to a golden russet, with flesh that's "very smooth and buttery with no detectable grit." The flavor "is rich, very sweet, and resembles 'Seckel.'" Bob Purvis says it's larger and keeps better than Seckel. It ripens about a week after Bartlett. Purvis has it ripe around September 4 in east-central Minnesota. Cummins says it stores one to three months and lists it for fresh eating and canning.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are on OHxF 87 semi-dwarf rootstock, which runs about 75% the size of a full size pear. Plan on about 15 feet between trees, 12 feet if you're committed to pruning, or up to 18 feet for more room. The tree is spreading, and Cummins says it bears in four to six years. On fire blight, the patent says "the tree takes fireblight but strikes typically cork-off in 1 or 2 year old wood," and rates it at least as resistant as Kieffer. The patent also notes it holds its leaves without spraying for leaf spot.

Pollination

Honeysweet can set fruit alone. The patent says it sets fruit without a pollenizer, but the pears are smaller, so you'll get bigger fruit with another variety nearby. Its pollen is fertile, so it's a good pollenizer for other pears too. Harrow Sweet, Flemish Beauty, Vermont Beauty, Ubileen and Waterville all bloom in its window.

Cold Hardiness

Bob Purvis reports Honeysweet hardy to at least -35F, which supports our zone 4 listing with a little room to spare. Cummins is more cautious and rates it zone 5.

Representative illustration, not Honeysweet itself: Seckel, Honeysweet's parent. Honeysweet is larger and ripens to a golden russet. Illustration: “Seckel” by J. Marion Shull, USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library (POM00007296). Public domain.

About the photo: this isn’t Honeysweet itself. Photos of Honeysweet are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Seckel Pears” by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, via Flickr, licensed CC BY 2.0.