Growing Fruit for Competition
Competitive fruit shows may be an uniquely British event. They are unknown on the continent where fruit is exhibited as it comes from the tree, blemishes and all, rather than the perfect specimens that appear at our fruit shows. Yet growing fruit of competitive standard is tremendously rewarding and enormously satisfying when your plate of perfect apples receives a ‘First’, a Gold Medal or even a silver cup and a not insignificant sum of money at some shows. Although nothing comparable with the resources and effort expended over the past months nurturing these fruits so as to arrive at six matched specimens of apple or pears, ten strigs of currants or a dozen gooseberries, free from any sign of imperfection and typical of the variety.
Attention to detail is crucial at every step and many more good fruits will be needed to arrive at a prize winning plate. As early as mid-January currant flower buds thinned in order to achieve longer strigs and larger berries. Fleece draped over trees in blossom as protection against frost. Then apple and pear fruitlets thinned and with some varieties so as to leave the king fruit, the one at the centre of the cluster because it is usually bigger and can be more attractive, as in Howgate Wonder in which the king fruits are taller, rather than flattened. Pests and disease kept at bay and war waged against slugs amongst the strawberries. Gooseberries very carefully watched as they gain size, yet not too rapidly so as to risk bursting with a shower of rain. Fruit cages will be necessary to keep out the birds and squirrels, even for cherries. Heated glass houses and polytunnels must be maintained by those showing tender fruits, such as peaches and grapes, while sheltering walls and fences are always a bonus in the fruit garden.
One of the leading English exhibiters Adrian Baggaley had a particularly successful year in 2008 when he scooped 22 firsts and all the special awards for fruit with 31 entries and 300 fruits on display at the top event, the Autumn Royal Horticultural Society Show. The following year was almost as good, but in 2010 the fruit grower’s greatest enemy, the weather destroyed half his crops through hail damage in late September, only ten days before the Autumn Show, though he still secured a number of firsts. Frustration and stress are part and parcel of exhibiting and Adrian’s memories of 2009 are typical of the days in the build up before a big show. He travels some 120 miles from Nottingham with a coach load of other fruit, vegetable and flower exhibitors who come to Westminster every year for the RHS Show.
Show Time
Preparations began on the Saturday three days before show day, the following Tuesday.
Saturday 10 October: 10 hours picking and plating, that is making the selection for the final plate of each fruit.
Sunday 11 October: 12 hours picking and plating.
Monday 12 October: 12 hours wrapping and labelling each individual fruit, boxing up and loading onto a van.
Tuesday 1.30 am rise; 2.30 am make my way to a Nottingham suburb to meet the coach; 3.30 am around 26 people assemble from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Coach arrives late, boxes and coffins (for very long parsnips) loaded and on the coach. Further delays on MI motorway due to road works.
I ask myself the same question as I do most years - will I have enough time to stage when we arrive? I have taken out insurance by asking a friend to be at the RHS Halls by 6.30 am to find the classes, position the plates and entry cards just in case the coach is late.
On the way down we pick up the ‘Carnation Lads’ (exhibiting in the Floral classes) at Milton Keynes coach station. We arrive at the Westminster show halls a few minutes past 7.00 am, substantially late; I like to be there by 6. 30 am at the very latest. There is some confusion as to exactly which Hall we are in. The coach driver has to back up and around parked vehicles to a central off-loading position. This is central London and in a hurry to get off the street he unloads my ready-made -up basket of fruit, losing much of the blueberry in-fill. At 7.30 am no fruit on the plate yet, in fact, not enough plates. Where are the entry cards? We have to be out of the building by 9.15 am. At 9.30 am we are still in the Hall and some judges already there waiting to start. No time to check exhibits, I have to trust we made no errors. 9.33 am exit Hall. By 11.0 am judges decisions are final, the result cards are in place and the public admitted. Absolutely delighted with my awards, by the afternoon I am asleep in the coach on the way home. The fruit remains on display for the two days of the London show and then given away to Londoners who pour into the Hall as soon as the show finishes.
Exhibition Pears
The showing season for pears can begin with Summer competitions where soft fruits are the main exhibits, but an early pear is often very useful. The peak time is September and October and there are late shows in November with the possibility of some fifteen classes to enter, plus three collections of apples and pears. The RHS list of recommended exhibition varieties for pears includes Pitmaston Duchess, Doyenné du Comice, Conference, Concorde, Onward, Beurré Superfin, Beurré Hardy, Joséphine de Malines, Louise Bonne of Jersey and Packham’s Triumph, but there are a few scab factories here, especially Onward, and no use at all if you aspire to grow organically.
Half the battle in showing is growing good exhibition varieties that reliably produce regularly shaped, handsome fruit and are reasonably disease resistant. But before ordering any trees thought must be given to the situation and method of training. Situation dictates training and the latter the choice of rootstock and age of the nursery tree - trained trees are usually sold already partly formed and about three years old. I prefer one year old maiden whips, that is a central leader with no side branches (feathers) and to train them myself. The rootstocks for a cordon, either obliquely trained or upright, is quince C and the more vigorous quince A for pyramids, espaliers and fans. A faster way to achieve a four tier espalier, however, would be to use Pyrus communis, seedling pear, as a rootstock.
Varieties, such as, Doyenné du Comice and Durondeau require a warmer spot than, for instance, Conference or Concorde. Beurré Hardy seems to work as well as a cordon in the open as it does against a fence. In my garden in Nottinghamshire Louise Bonne of Jersey also requires a warmer situation. Warm locations can be walls or fences, which create or stimulate a climate several degrees of latitude further south, perhaps almost bordering on continental. Walls or fence panels with a southerly aspect are ideal. Walls protect delicate blossom from radiation frosts in spring and increase ambient temperatures throughout the season. Their drawback is a blotting paper effect on the ground. The soil in front of the wall needs regular watering and failure to do this means small poorly flavoured mealy fruit.
Fences give no protection against radiation frosts during blossom time unless the trees are covered with fleece, which will require removing during the day time to allow bees access to the flowers. The fence panel is the poor man’s wall, it lessens the the effect of wind by lifting it several metres in front of the fence and up and over the top. The height of the fence dictates how far in front the wind will start to lift. The temperate in front of the panel in summer can be 100oF. This is definitely an enhanced situation and with no blotting paper effect from the structure. It should be noted that the panels need to clear the ground by at least a foot to allow any ground frost to roll away.
Some idea of the marked effect that climate can have on pears is illustrated by my diary entries for Doyenné du Comice. In 2007, two months of blistering hot weather followed by the wettest day and indeed the wettest summer for 60 years produced unbeatable fruit in colour, size and uniformity with excellent flavour. In 2008, endless months of rain and overcast conditions resulted in poor fruit in several respects: shape was uniform at the front but flattened at the back with thick skin, virtually no colour and flavour moderate in the part of the fruit facing the sun and weak in the area in the shade. In 2009, severe shortage of sun, months of cloud cover and a month of torrential rain from 7 July onwards gave large to very large fruits, but no colour, poor uniformity, thick, bumpy skin with very juicy flesh but sickly poor flavour.
Recommended Pear Varieties for Showing
My recommendations for exhibition varieties of pears throughout the season are as follows.
Late July: Doyenné d’Eté
I hesitate to include this variety since this is a very small - a one and a half inch diameter fruit must be counted a large example - but it is one of the earliest pears. It is a good cropper, generally clean and free from disease and it is very unlikely that anyone else will have pears in July. I used it for the first time in 2009 at the RHS Show Tatton Park with great success and this is certainly a ‘must’ in a basket of fruit. My tree is a weeping pyramid.
Early to mid-August: Beurré Precoce Morettini
A moderately sized pale green skinned pear, this often has a subtle rosy blush. Its shape is consistent and appearance very pristine but a short season - if only I could keep it going until the end of August.
Late August and Early September: Dr Jules Guyot
In appearance it resembles Williams’ Bon Chrétien but earlier and smaller; it turns yellow by late August to early September and keeps only a short time.
Early September: Williams’ Bon Chrétien, Clapp’s Favorite
Picked in early September it will turn yellow about five days later and then quickly goes over. A dish of large, yellow Williams’ is pretty well unbeatable, perhaps, with the exception of Clapp’s Favorite.
Clapp’s Favorite, I find generally a poor cropper, 2009 being the exception to the rule, but most were not well coloured. Size is large, shape uniform, but once they have turned yellow are past it. I have a love-hate relationship with Clapps’; I have four cordons and a pyramid, but with me flavour is poor.
Late September: Louise Bonne of Jersey, Beurré Hardy
By the third week of September the odd fruit of Louise Bonne of Jersey will be falling off and this is the time to go over the tree every day and take off the pears that come away easily. Usually the coloured fruits ripen first and the greener ones last; the latter will keep longer in the fridge.
Hard on the heels of Louise Bonne of Jersey is Beurré Hardy, both nineteenth century varieties. Again with Beurré Hardy to avoid the fruits falling to the ground and bruising go round the tree daily or support the fruits with hair nets. The aim is to extend the season as long as possible and for pears and apples this can be done in two ways. Either wrap the picked fruits in kitchen towel and place in the salad box of a fridge or support the fruit on the tree. Some years Louise Bonne of Jersey can be highly coloured, and generally colour is not significant with Beurré Hardy. Both these varieties can have problems with scab.
Late September: Conference, Concorde
These two varieties are the easiest to grow for the beginner and not dissimilar. Concorde can be more pristine if both are grown in the open. To produce large perfect pears they must be grown against a wall or fence to provide a longer growing season and both work well as oblique cordons against posts and wires if space is limited.
Mid-October: Doyenné du Comice, Durondeau
My Comice succeeds against a fence panel which it never did as a cordon in open ground. Even during awful summers I have had a crop and in 2009 some of the largest fruit ever.
Durondeau can be highly coloured but it does not do well in the open ground. It crops better against a wall but coloration is better on the pyramid in the open ground, so you have to take your pick and experiment with both methods.
Late October - early November: Joséphine de Malines, Glou Morçeau, Winter Nélis
These three are all a ‘must’ for the RHS Late Apple and Pear Competition. Jospéphine de Malines and Winter Nélis are consistent in shape and size and ‘hang’ on the tree until after the foliage has turned colour or dropped off.
Other varieties that you might grow include Merton Pride and Invincible which can go into the ‘Any other dessert pear’ class.
All the harvesting and ripening times I have given apply to the East Midlands and will vary across the UK. In 2009, for instance, Dr Jules Guyot and Williams’ dropped off three weeks earlier than usual. Beth was nearly a week late. Louise Bonne of Jersey a week early. Pitmaston Duchess hung on for ever making my purchase of £20 worth if hair nets unnecessary, although they did come in handy for the Comice.
Adrian Baggaley
Varieties exhibited in above pictures:
Collection of apples and pears: front row (left/right) - Red Alkmene, Spartan, Winter Gem; middle row -Conference, Concorde, Doyenné du Comice; back row - Rev W Wilkes, Peasgood's Nonsuch, Howgate Wonder
Three dishes of pears at November show: central three dishes, Durondeau (front), Delwilmor (middle), Jospéhine de Malines (back); dishes to left - Joséphine de Malines, Forelle; dishes to right - Doyenné du Comice
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