Pear ‘Doyenne du Comice’

‘Doyenne du Comice’ (often called simply ‘Comice’) is widely regarded as the best flavoured dessert pear in the world, raised in France in 1849. Large round-to-pear-shaped fruits ripen with greenish-yellow skin, sometimes russeted and flushed pink on the sunny side, with buttery, juicy, intensely aromatic white flesh.

A demanding tree that rewards patience: it needs a warm sheltered site and compatible pollinators, but the flavour is worth the effort. Fruits ripen in October and keep for a few weeks.

Plant in full sun in deep, moist but well-drained soil, sheltered from cold winds. Not self-fertile, so plant with suitable pollination partners flowering at the same time. Prune in winter for framework, summer for fruit quality.

A proper heritage choice for a kitchen garden, an orchard corner, or espaliered against a sunny wall.