Nanking Cherry vs Beedle Pear - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Beedle Pear

Prunus tomentosa

Pyrus Beedle

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Nanking Cherry
Beedle Pear

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.

Beedle Pear is sweet, soft, and juicy with no astringency making it great for fresh eating. They typically ripen on the tree in early September. The medium-sized pears keep relatively well when compared to other varieties. For most years it is a reliable producer on the prairies.

The Beedle Pear is a cold hardy pear with Canadian roots. John Beedle discovered it on a city boulevard in St. Albert, Alberta.

For fruit production, another pear variety is required for cross-pollination. Can be paired with Krazulya Pear or Ussurian Pear.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Beedle Pear Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 2a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 6 m (20 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 4 m (14 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium


Flowers: white, early spring
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Fruit size: 100g
Flavor: sweet, lacks astrigency
Harvest: early September
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


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