happyhelper,

I live in northern Illinois and have grown 3 Asian Pears (Hosui, 21 Century and Shinseiki) from bare root planting in spring of 2011. This year, two out three produced fruits despite the extreme winter we northerner endured and there was no protection as my trees are out in the open.

So I say it's safe, at least in my local microclimate! Good lucks.

Tom

I am in Northern VA and I have two asian pear trees that are now 3 years old since transplanting. I have a shinko and a Hosui. They are about 10 feet tall and frow straight up instead of bushing out. This year I got 6 pears from 1 tree and 4 from the other. I tried grafting a european pear on to each of them last spring, but the grafts did not take (probably because I am so new to grafting and made an error.) All of the pears had insect bites on them, so next year I intend to spray for insects a few times. But the fruit tasted very good, very juicy with a slight citrus flavor.

I orderedx Olympic, Shinsui and Yoinashi from Adams County Nursery in Pennsylvania. I think after hearing from you that I will keep the order and see what happens.
We had a terrible year with fruit this season because of the extreme cold during the winter. Hopefully, it was a fluke and will not happen again for another few years.
Thanks for the replys.