Nanking Cherry vs Golden Spice Pear - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Golden Spice Pear

Pyrus Golden Spice

Prunus tomentosa

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

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Nanking Cherry

Golden Spice Pear produces delicious fruit and has other features that make it a striking accent tree. It is one of the few pears that successfully grows on the Canadian prairies. In late August, small, yellow pears with a slight red overlay will ripen and be ready for a variety of needs, including: fresh eating, canning, jams, and baking. They are slightly sweet with a crisp texture. Come fall, the green foliage transitions to orange, red, or burgundy, adding a burst of color to your yard.

Golden Spice Pear requires upkeep to ensure its survival and longevity. Regular pruning is recommended in late winter or early spring to maintain the oval shape and overall health of the tree. An additional pear or apple tree is required within 150 m (500’) for cross pollination and fruit production to occur.

Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.

Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.

Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.

Golden Spice Pear Quick Facts

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 2a
Height: 5 m (18 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 4 m (12 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: low


Fall colour: burgundy
Flowers: white
Flowers: white, early spring
Fruit: fade from blush to golden
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Firmness: firm
Flavor: sweet, crisp
Harvest: late august early september
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: ussurian pear
Other Names: ando cherry, chinese bush cherry, chinese dwarf cherry, downy cherry, hansens bush cherry, korean cherry, manchu cherry, mountain cherry, shanghai cherry