The hardest and most necessary decision to make in business and gardening is to cut a loss. A sense of humor like Ashok's definitely helps the process.

In all seriousness --

The medlar is a fruit with an ancient horticultural lineage, so it is kind of surprising that the cultivated form hasn't been more improved by this time. Characteristics like fruit-size and volume-of-usable-pulp are obvious targets for selection, and so I wonder why the collective efforts of past generations of fruit gardeners didn't bring the species closer to the level of quality (from a human perspective) of its cousins, the apple and pear. (It's like everyone just sort of shrugged and said "Eh, it's good enough as it is" sometime around the mid-Renaissance or whenever.)

But you know, this occurs to me about any number of minor fruits -- that they could be so much better if only more selection work had been done on them over the past few thousand years. (After all, consider how far removed a "Fuji" apple is from some ancestral crab-apple...)

For example, I just had a very interesting discussion with Bboy, here on this forum, concerning the *extremely* minor fruit Luma apiculata. L. apiculata is a beautiful Myrtaceous tree with a small edible berry, and there seems to be some real potential in the germplasm for a more worthwhile orchard crop -- but the potential remains largely unrealized.

According to Wikipedia (behold my awesome researching abilities!), the species L. apiculata originates in the central Andean mountains.

So what *I* want to know is, why weren't those darn pre-Columbian Incas putting some intensive efforts into improving the plant! They should have been putting more person-hours into horticultural work, rather than piling up rocks in places like Machu Picchu! We might have super-tasty Luma apiculata fruits as big as golf-balls if they had "gotten with the program" centuries ago!

So, to summarize, there you are, my philosophy of life: when in doubt, blame our ancestors! After all, they can't fight back!

Ah well ... now that I've firmly established my crank-dom before the *entire* "Gardenweb -- Fruit & Orchards" community ... I will attempt, in closing, to honor the concept of "staying on topic" ...

... which was, oh yes, medlars ...

Medlars do have a very interesting place in horticultural history, and it seems to me that there is at least some real utility in growing fruits or plants that evoke other places and times. So I guess that's the best argument I can come up with for growing them, if you don't actually like *eating* them: antiquarianism.

But somehow I doubt this will change your mind ... and, given that you don't have unlimited space to work with, I suppose that pragmatism should prevail.

(For the record, I'm very interested in history, and I am probably generally quite prone to being influenced by historical-horticultural associations. I will admit that I am one of those folks who planted a "Spitzenberg" apple because I was bedazzled by the purported Thomas Jefferson connection ... if some new story started circulating to the effect that, say, a particular old plum cultivar had been positively identified as Benjamin Franklin's favorite plum, I would probably feel a strong desire to grow it as well.)

If you don't like/appreciate them, give them away to someone who does. If I weren't something like 8+ hrs. away from you and the ground weren't solid, I'd come out and take them off your hands myself. My late uncle had medlars, grafted onto a quince, and I wish to God I had some here. I think the main reason they haven't caught on is because people don't know them (they aren't big colorful hard things that you can pick unripe and keep on supermarket shelves for a million years, so they aren't intere$ting to markets; most people say BLEAH! about quince because they don't know them, either. Just bake the damn things or sauce them like apples, and voila, Tasty Quince. Even better with pork than applesauce, IMO). OK, the medlars weren't much bigger than a ping-pong ball, so? Me, I'd much rather have some ribs, with less meat and more work(--but _way_ tastier) than a steak.
Please, find them a good home! :-(

My Medlar is 'Large Russian' and has fruit about the size of a tangerine. I have yet to find a way of eating them that I like. I have tried them bletted and as jelly. However, I am not about to chop it down as it has a curious gnarled habit, attractive flowers and fruit and spectacular Autumn colour (butter yellow). It is also a talking point for visitors. Best of all it appears to have no pests or diseases and requires no care whatsoever.

Better forms may be developed and then lost to disruptions like wars or aging and death of the originator. Even when propagated and dispersed these may still not become prevalent because of difficulties with large scale propagation or lack of interest from the market. Minor fruits do not have the same commerical potential as orchard fruits like apples. Comparatively few may be willing to pay the much higher purchase price of a named, grafted medlar, feijoa or even pawpaw. These exist but you don't see them every day. With the feijoa in particular there have been post(s) on this site asking where to buy certain named forms, as these seem to quite rare in commerce. I continue to read tags of the many specimens I encounter in nurseries here these days. They are always unselected seedlings.

Bboy,

Excellent points, all.

Here in California, LaVerne Nursery distributes several feijoa cultivars (Coolidge, for one) fairly extensively.

But there are numerous other cultivars beyond the ones carried by LaVerne, and they are not readily available. Some of them may be available through specialty nurseries in Southern California, but not all of those nurseries will ship plants. (And the cost of getting a plant shipped-in from a significant distance may deter many.)

Many rare cultivars may be most readily available through hobbyist circles. I've gotten plants of several fairly rare feijoa cultivars through our local California Rare Fruit Growers group.

In fact, one of our local members has quite an extensive feijoa cultivar collection -- about a dozen different varieties, I think. But he's an older gentleman, and he is now in the process of giving up his house and garden -- so I'm trying to propagate some of the selections that he has, to keep them in our local hobbyist circles.

That feijoa collection is a gold mine.

Feijoas are mighty tasty. Too bad it's too cold here to grow them.

About those medlars to extract the pulp with less work, can you run them through a food mill, maybe after steaming or simmering them to soften them up?

juice'em - noisey but good yields of tasty nectar-style juice

Bill

Hi Scott,

Say you went on a two-hour flight. There were two empty seats, each paired with a person who looked cut from pretty much the same mold.

Would you rather sit with the guy who happens to be growing two medlar trees or the guy who isn't?

That's my question to you.

--Jonathan
(Grower of only one medlar tree, but it hasn't fruited yet.)

Gosh. I didn't even know about this fruit! Why would you get rid of it, since it's already a mature plant producing fruit???? If you don't like it, then perhaps you just need an appreciative someone to take the fruit off your hands.

As Mercutio said to Benvolio in discussing Romeo's dilemma....

If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.
O, Romeo, that she were, O that she were
An open et cetera, thou a pop'rin pear!
ROMEO, good night. I'll to my truckle-bed;
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep.
Come, shall we go?

(open et cetera= "open arse", the common name of Medlar, and a testimony to the lack of anatomical knowledge in those days)

I bought a Medlar just cause I like such private jokes in my garden...and cause they're pretty. ;~)

Lynn

Jonathan, I'd prefer to sit next to the guy that tried the medlar and dug it up after he decided he didn't like it :-)

I am going to graft most of the trees over to pears in a week or two but will leave a few medlar branches just for curiosities. I was going to dig them up last winter but I went out there with the shovel and the trees just looked so nice I couldn't dig 'em up. They have a wonderful shape. They are very nice trees as ornamentals, maybe they will catch on that way someday. Plus a little squeeze or two of fruit as a bonus.

Scott

Hey, could you post a picture of what the tree looks like?

No pics? Pretty, pretty please?

Emily, I'll try to take one soon, they are about to bloom. I didn't end up grafting them to pears, I thought I had done it but apparently forgot to! Thats what happens when you get too many things to graft.

Scott

That would be great. I only could find a few pictures out on the web. From what I could see the tree DOES look interesting, but most of the pictures were pretty crappy.

Hell, I wish I could get to them.

A very strange way to prepare them is pickled. I know that sounds very strange and I'd have to get my wife to tell more on it but while we still were in Macedonia some Turkish ladies my wife was teaching had them as part of their mezze. I only had one she brought back but it was sooooo gooooood.

Emily, I still owe you some pictures. I took a few awhile back but I didn't think they showed a whole lot but here they are anyway. One of the whole tree and one of a flower. The flowers are pretty big compared to most fruit flowers but it is hard to tell from the pictures. These are planted in a 3'-spaced row. Hopefully you can at least see how nice the branching structure is.

Scott

{{gwi:126311}}

{{gwi:126312}}

THANK YOU!

I hadn't checked this thread in awhile; I thought you had forgotten (sniff).

Now I want one of these trees! I'll take a yanked up one!

bumping this one back up.

While this is bumped up I can add a few more comments. I still have my medlar, singular now as one tree died from fireblight. This year I just left the fruits on the tree where they bletted themselves, so every time I walk by it I grab a few and suck out the innerds. I also learned that is a good way to eat them, just bite the end, suck it out and throw away the rest. I am a little more positive on the fruit since I got a bigger crop this year and am not bothering with the hassle of bletting, but on the other hand the moths seem to love it quite dearly so it is yet another tree I need to spray or bag.

BTW the latest issue of the CRFG Fruit Gardener magazine covers medlars in detail.

Scott

Scott,

While visiting family in Australia this Christmas I tried some of my sister-in-law's homemade medlar jelly. It tasted great. So I'm glad I put in a medlar last year, but not so happy to hear your reports on disease and insects. I had thought medlars were meant to be relatively trouble free.

It's a handsome tree. I probably won't grow one myself, but I'm glad to know about it.

Rosefolly

I have lived in North America over forty years and of all the fruits I tasted as a young girl before I came here medlar remains a favorite. I can't grow it where I live but I remember the taste.

This is my 'Large Russian' just leafing out. As you can see it is just in an ordinary garden, not an orchard. Being in a restricted position it has been cut back many times and is showing the medlar's weird habit of the new growth always setting off at roughly 90 degrees the the previous branch. Persoanlly I like this erratic habit. Like Scott, I too am more positive about the fruit as I had several quite pleasant ones last year which had bletted themselves. This variety has fairly large fruit for a medlar - about the size of a tangerine.

I just grafted half of my medlar to "Puciu Big" which according to the folks in CRFG is the biggest and best variety. If it is a lot bigger it may just make this medlar business worthwhile.

Scott

where do I get these weird medlar varieties? I hear "large russian" is the largest-fruited. And what is this "Puciu big"? Scottfsmith, where did you find it?

I actually don't know if its the biggest, I should have said "one of the biggest". I got it from a friend but you can also get it through the ARS germplasm system. Or ask me next year.

Scott

I am so relieved you didn't yank your tree! Sorry to hear abou t the fireblight.

My tree fruited last year and I made various delicious things with the medlars. Well, one delicious thing. The pie wasn't that great, but the medlar paste (aka, cheese) was a real hit.

Ancient recipe attached, though I cut a lot of corners. Basically, I just simmered them in a normal pot until soft, ran them through the foodmill on my Kitchen Aide (I want to get a food mill, next year), added sugar and allspice, and then slowly cooked it down until it was paste. Then put it in chocolate molds, and voila. They were truly delicious, and a unique taste contribution to the Thanksgiving table.

--Jonathan

Does anyone have any information on where to get a medlar tree down in Southern California, namely in the Los Angeles metropolitan area? My hotmail account starts with "usmen" or I am frequent on the Amaryllis/Hippeastrum forum.

I don't think any nurseries carry them, so you will have to mailorder. I recommend you order it from Raintree, that's where I got mine.

Although I am on the fence about keeping it. I may start grafting pears onto it as well and keep a few branches. They are interesting, but more of a novelty than something you want to eat a lot of.

Just to show you the fruit of 'Large Russian'. These are some which I found on the ground today. Not the best specimens but they show the size.

Wow, that Large Russian is one heck of a medlar. And here I thought I was going to be getting big ones with the Monstrueuse de Evreinoff I just ordered from Raintree. Guess I'll take what I can get though.

I have the Nottingham Medlar, I grafted it onto the native hawthorne root which works pretty well. Would like to try some of the other selections, if I could find a source for scionwood to trade with. They graft very easily like apple or pear, and the trees are a nice compact size, like an Italian Plum but much more spreading and with a zig zag irregular growth habit.

If you want to pay shipping and order online, Pars Produce carries a "Persian" one called Azgil.

Carla in Sac

hey Vesna, i got some from Banja Luka and they are very sweet and productive, good luck (sretno)

Hey, I just put an order together with Breda Giant Medlar on it, the photo is beautiful..can't wait to grow them even if the birds are all that eat them. The taste sounds delicious..at least if there wasn't anything else to eat you wouldn't starve..takes years to grow new fruit trees..of course I have a lot of acerage

I'm in New Jersey (7a; 6b) and will be growing 'Nottingham' medlar. Some report it as 'the best' (same description applies on occasion for 'Royal' as well), whereas other's among the worst (those in conditions where the fruit rots fast, I suppose - due to the very open end.

What are recent opinions of 'Nottingham' and others.

I have Nottingham and based on the discussion above I think it represents another medlar. I enjoy the flowers and fall foliage. I like to show off that I have one. However, the last time I actually ate one was many years ago! The 2011 Halloween snow storm damaged the medlar extensively. However, the tree appears to be recovering okay. Overall, I am happy I have the tree.

NJBio, it looks like you missed the title of this thread :-)

I see I have not updated my medlar status recently. My Puciu Big was getting horrible fireblight, so I took it down to its quince rootstock and grafted some pears onto that. I now have no medlars.

Chervil, you have the right attitude about medlars: they are a beautiful tree and an interesting conversation piece, and thats about it.

Scott

I must admit that while I live in the same general part of the country as Scott (outside DC), I have not had much of a problem with fireblight on my two medlar trees. I got a few minor strikes this year, after 3 years with nothing, but had much greater problems on my apples. In general the medlars have been pretty trouble free. The main problem they have is that the fruit will tend to split well before it ripens if we get a lot of heavy rain in spring, as we often do here in MD. But this year I got a quite large crop. And they are pretty trees.

Thats interesting, my medlars never split and we obviously get similar weather. My medlar fireblight problem may have been due to their direct adjacency to quince - you can see a quince branch in the picture above in fact. Now that my quince are gone perhaps a medlar would do better. It would still need sprays for bugs, my fruits were always worm-filled. I was also starting to get quince rust on them. Unlike CAR that disease ruins the fruits, it is much worse.

Scott

Man I wish I could find my medlars. First year and have 15+ fruit, but they were rock hard so I put them somewhere outside to blet naturally but forget where,... or something came and ate my rock hard fruit without any trace lol. Darn was really hoping to try a medlar for 1st time.

Did I miss the updates? What came of your decision? Curious!

Btw I got fruit last couple years. Really good. like an apple-cinnamon butter. Nice to have a fruit that ripens in late November to late December. I also grafted on 6 more medlar varieties and a couple Euro pears (cuttings from the USDA Corvalis) as well to that tree this year.

Mine are just like apple cinnamon butter too ...... but with added grit, and no sugar. I've long since stopped bothering to pick them. Even the birds don't eat them and they just lie around on the ground and eventually, after several months, rot.

I can't believe this thread is still going. Medlars, heck I still miss it. My maternal .grandmother had vineyards and also had some medlar trees. If I remember correctly they were gnarly and kind of shrubby. Not tall , as a kid I was able to to pick them. Let them sit for a while until they softened, eat and spit seeds in the garden. Not exactly like some fruit you could eat in company of others. Funny I liked the texture, my mouth would get sore from eating so many. I also enjoyed quince, but at $2.50 a piece in Toronto? Even though I go to Middle East stores they are still costly. We've had very cold winters in the last 2 years and quince didn't do well in my area of Toronto.

• Ashok, Your post is old and I hope you are well after all this time. It was beautifully written, by the way. I remember eating medlars till my mouth was raw. When I visited my grandmother (maternal) in late summer, we would walk to the vineyard, no cars of course. We would climb uphill and on the slope would be medlars trees. I might have been 7, 8, 9 years old. I recall trees looking shrubby. Low growing and it was easy for me to pick fruit. Which I did, stuffed my face! My grandmother died years ago, I am 74 and I haven't had medlars since I came to North America 54 years ago. Another fruit which I can find here but it is not very often is quince. Greeks call it Cydonia. Quince can be kept for a long time and I recall people putting it in armoire to scent the clothes. Or just kept them on dining table. As for the Incas, they lived in harsh climate and surviving was uppermost for them. However, they did give us tomatoes and potatoes. Foods that feed humanity all over the world. No small thing.