Pear (European), Moonglow, Bare Root

Moonglow Pear (Pyrus communis ‘Moonglow’)

Moonglow is a European pear with mild flavor, soft flesh, and relatively few gritty stone cells. Its fire-blight resistance gives it a practical role in home orchards where disease is a concern.

Key Characteristics

A smoother-textured eating pear

The pale flesh has a mild, sweet flavor when properly ripened. Pick mature pears firm and allow them to soften indoors.

Useful for eating and preserving

Moonglow can be eaten fresh, canned, or made into sauce. Its relatively low grit makes it different from firmer, coarser preserving pears.

Resistance supports a mixed orchard

Moonglow has useful fire-blight resistance and is a pollen source for compatible pears. Keep growth moderate and choose partners whose flowering overlaps its later bloom.

Pollination Partners

Cross-pollination requires a different compatible cultivar. Options in our 2027 selection include Warren, Orient, Seckel, Bartlett. Cross-pollination depends on overlapping bloom, not matching harvest months.

Rootstock and Mature Size

Standard Pyrus betulifolia rootstock can produce a tree roughly 20–30 feet tall. Allow room for the rootstock you choose, keep the graft above soil level, and remove any shoots arising below it.

Product Details

• Sun: Full sun to light partial shade; full sun is best for fruiting.
• Soil: medium to medium-dry, well-drained soil; avoid standing water.
• Mature height: Approximately 20–30 feet; see rootstock and pruning guidance above.
• Bloom: Early to mid-spring; white flowers.
• Fruit: Yellow fruit, sometimes pink-blushed, with mild sweet flesh and relatively few grit cells.
• Uses: Fresh eating, canning, sauce, and preserves.
• Ripening: August–September
• Chill hours: Approximately 700 hours.
• Pollination: Cross-pollination with a compatible cultivar required.
• USDA hardiness: Zones 5–9.

General Pear Orchard Guidance

A good start

Choose well-drained soil and enough room for the mature tree. Water consistently while roots establish, mulch with space around the trunk, and keep vigorous grass and other competitors away from the young root zone.

Fertility and fruit-tree guilds

Use a soil test to guide lime and fertilizer rather than feeding heavily by default. Our Tree Planting Kit fertilizer blend is an optional planting supplement; keep concentrated fertilizer away from bare roots and avoid excess nitrogen.

Interested in permaculture and stacking functions around your fruit trees? Explore our fruit-tree guild guide for ideas on combining plants for flowers, ground cover, and mulch while giving your tree room to grow.

Practical pest and disease care

Train strong branch angles, thin crowded fruit, and avoid excessive nitrogen that produces tender growth vulnerable to fire blight. Remove diseased growth using appropriate pruning guidance and monitor for pear psylla and fruit-feeding insects. Pick European dessert pears mature but firm for indoor ripening; Asian pears usually ripen on the tree.