Stark Crimson pear trees

(Kalle, Red Clapp's Favorite)

Pyrus communis

Stark Crimson is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

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Picking season: Early
Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
Flowering group: 4

Stark Crimson is also known as Red Clapp's Favorite, or Kalle and is an attractive red-flushed early-season pear.

It is best to pick the pears towards the end of summer, as soon as the colour develops, and bring them indoors to ripen. As a guide, this variety is likely to ripen 1-2 weeks ahead of Bartlett.

Stark Crimson organic pear trees for sale

1 yeartree on PyroDwarf rootstock29.25€
Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
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Growing and Training

Stark Crimson is suited to most climates, however it is susceptible to fireblight.

History

Stark Crimson is a good example of a "sport", a natural genetic mutation. The original Clapp's Favorite was raised by Thaddeus Clapp of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1850s, possibly a cross between Bartlett and Flemish Beauty. It is essentially a green pear but with a tendency to show some red flush. In the 1930s Adrian Kalle, a grower in Van Buren County, Michigan, noticed that one of the branches of a Clapp's Favorite tree growing in his orchard had pears that were a solid dark red color - quite different from the normal red-flushed green pears on the other branches. This new form was patented in 1952 and taken on by Stark Brothers nursery under the name Starkrimson, but today it is more widely known as Kalle or Red Clapp's Favorite.