I don't know where it can be found for sale, but you could get scion cuttings from the National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon. Also, private collectors might be able to provide you with cuttings. I saw a couple of collectors I recognized from a very brief Google search. Someone on here may be able to provide cuttings if you could graft them.

Hidden Springs Nursery, in Cookeville TN has it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pears at Hidden Springs

lucky p is that price for a 2'-4' branch for grafting purposes or is that the price for a small tree?

If its a tree any idea how many years before such a small tree will start producing blooms?

I have two large Asian Pear trees that have never set fruit because they flower at different times. This could be my ticket to bushels of pears.

HI guys thanks a bunch,

a scion wouldnt work for sure
grafting is out of my range and my moms...

im thinking thats a price for a scion ???

guess ill call them and see tomorrow...

"...is that price for a 2'-4' branch for grafting purposes or is that the price for a small tree?"

"im thinking thats a price for a scion ???"

No, it's a 2'-4' tree.

Right. $12 for a 2-4 ft grafted tree. It's a heck of a deal - I don't see how they stay in business. But they've been doing it for a long time.
I'm not sure what rootstock they use - probably callery pear, but you could call/email to ask and inquire how long it usually takes for them to come into bearing.
I wouldn't anticipate any fruit for 3-5 years, maybe longer.

There is an old adage: "Plant pears, plant for your heirs" - a testament, both to the lengthy productive life span of pears, but also to the long juvenile period they go through before they begin fruiting. Granted, this probably was written with concern to seedling pears, but even grafted selections on seedling rootstock can take a number of years to come into production.

Gee, I got pears the second year after planting on my multi-grafted pear. Maybe the rootstock was really old by the time I got it???

Carla in Sac

i'm curious, how does the turnbull giant pear taste? anyone have any experience with it?

Asian pears come into bearing faster(for me, anyway), even on Harbin(seedling P.ussuriensis) rootstock than do European pears on a semi-dwarfing stock, like OHxF 513. Quince or one of the more dwarfing OHxF rootstocks would probably move bearing up a bit more.
I planted one grafted pear, on Winter Nelis seedling rootstock, that took 12 years to produce its first fruit; it, and others like it, on P. calleryana will be here long after I'm gone - and possibly after my children have passed - but you have to wait a while for them to reach fruiting maturity.
HSN doesn't specify which rootstocks they're using, but they'll tell you what they're using if you ask them - could be quince, could be OHxF 333, could be callery.

how does it taste?

personally ive never had it,( not a pear fan) but my mom had two before she moved from her old house.....

she says " Best pear she has ever eaten"
guess thats why she was trying to find them again hehehe

Turnbulls taste somewhat like Asian pears, but better IMO, almost like a cross between a pear and an apple. Nothing pretty about it...but very crisp, juicy, delicious & HUGE.
Got a nice Turnbull tree from Hidden Springs last fall, and it's just broken bud (about 2wks after the Harvest Queen pollinator they recommended...nice folks, BTW).
Hope I'm not too far south to get good production, but even a handful (and they are a handful!) of Turnbulls each year will be worth the effort!

turnbull sounds like something i should try. i just called hidden springs, they're out until nov, guess i'll have to wait

Im surprised to hear such high praise of Turnbull. I consider it average at best flavor wise. Good tree and disiease resistant but only average flavor wise to me.

Scape

i see from googling that it was patented in 1981 by mr turnbull et all in depew okla. the patent was assigned to henry fields who sold the turnbull in the early 80's, but they dont now. turnbull seems to be dissapearing from the trade.

the giant turnbull pear is fast growing extremely productive and amounts to nothing but 5ft - 8ft watersprouts up a long trunk. The next year they weight down with pears to form an umbrella like weeping branch. . Its Flowering goes on a long time and pollinates early, mid, and late flowering varieties. you must pick off the pears off the central leader so it stays vertical and does not weep. The pear itself looks ugly with discolorations, but has no affect on it's flavor. It is the only one of my fruits that the human don't take. Let it grow and don't fight it, it will do fine. just thin the fruit. Henry Field's nursery carried this tree and there is still a chance they have scion from it

I think i might have tracked down some scion wood to make my own turnbull. I hear a lot of variation about the quality of the turnbull pear. Is it a good pear?

Thanks Steve

Steve does turnbull produce a lot of pears? I'm still waiting to see if I can get scion wood.

It is a prolific producer. It needs to be thinned if you want large pears

Planted 2 from Hidden Springs nursery TN 3 years ago. This year they bloomed. pretty excited to see the fruit.

Turnbull is an excellent pollinator for other pear trees. There is a long thread discussing improving the efficiency of the Warren pear's fruit production after grafting the Turnbull to it. I tried this a few years ago and it worked really well. While Turnbull might not have the best tasting fruit, it might serve a very important role in this context.

-Brett

I recently planted a Bartlett and a Starking Delicious pear tree next to our Turnbulls. Love pears to eat. You sure cant buy good pears in the grocers.

eat the fruits just as they start turning color. A ripe turnbul is worthless but when green, use it as if it is an apple for cooking eating or drying. There is no better apple than the giant turnbul.

Are you still looking for the Turnbull Pear tree?

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