Autumn 2024 planting seasonPre-order now for EU delivery December 2024 - March 2025

Shipova pear trees

(Shipover)

Pyrus communis x Sorbus aria
Shipover pears
Shipova is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 4

Shipova is a very unusual and interesting hybrid between the common pear (Pyrus communis) and an ornamental rowan or whitebeam tree (Sorbus aria). It has excellent ornamental and fruit qualities.

The flowers are large by Sorbus standards but still look more like Sorbus flowers than pear blossom. They appear in May - towards the end of the European pear blossom season.

The fruits are borne in clusters, more reminscent of whitebeam berries than regular pears. Each fruitlet is a small golden round pear, about 4cm in size, with a pleasant sweet pear-like flavour and yellow flesh, which is crisp like an Asian pear. Unlike European pears Shipover pears should be left on the tree to ripen. Once harvested they can be eaten immediately or kept in a fridge for month or so - they tend to sweeten further with storage.

The leaves also show characteristics of both species, their size and the silvery leaf undersides being similar to those of whitebeams - and from a distance the tree looks much more like a whitebeam than a pear tree. The leaves turn golden yellow in the autumn.

Bio / Organic  fruit trees

Shipova organic pear trees for sale


  • 11 yeartree on PyroDwarf rootstock25.00€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out
  • 21 yeartree on Kirchensaller rootstock25.00€
    Very large tree (5m-6m+ after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out

Contact us if you would like to go on the waiting list for next season.

EU delivery countries
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
Delivery chargesClick here to view estimated delivery charges.

Growing and Training

Shipova grows with a Sorbus-like fairly upright habit and a dominant central leader.

It appears to be reliably self-fertile, but can be pollinated by other late-flowering European pear varieties. Its own pollen does not pollinate other pears.


History

Shipova is also known as Shipover, and the Bollwyller Pear, after the town in Alsace, France, where it was first discovered in the 17th century.


Shipova characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilitySelf-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Season of use1 week
  • Food usesEating fresh
  • Summer average maximum temperaturesWarm (25-30C / 76-85F)
  • Country of originFrance
  • Period of origin1600 - 1649
  • Fruit colourGoldOrangeYellow / Orange

Similar varieties

  • See also Clapp's Favorite
    Clapp's Favorite
    An attractive red-flushed early-season pear from the USA.
  • See also Conference
    Conference
    Conference is a popular and reliable English pear, well-suited to temperate climates in north-west Europe.
  • See also Saint Mathieu
    Saint Mathieu
    Saint Mathieu is a traditional Franco-Belgian cooking pear.
  • See also Winnals Longdon
    Winnals Longdon
    A traditional English perry pear variety, produces a low tannin perry.