Pear (Pyrus) Conference/Comice/Williams (Family)

This family tree brings three classic dessert pears together on a single trunk, so you can enjoy a long, varied harvest from just one tree. Each variety has been grafted onto the same tree, so they cross-pollinate one another and you don't need a separate partner. In spring the branches are covered in white blossom that bees love, and the three varieties ripen in turn from late summer into autumn.

Williams' Bon Chrétien is a much-loved English pear dating back to the 18th century and the first to ripen, in early September. Its fruit turns from green to golden yellow, with sweet, musky, exceptionally juicy flesh. Pick it while still firm and enjoy it soon after, as it doesn't store for long.

Conference is Britain's best-known pear and holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Its long, slender, russeted fruits are sweet and juicy, and they store well into winter. It's also one of the most reliable croppers.

Doyenné du Comice is widely considered the finest-flavoured pear of all, with large golden fruits and buttery, meltingly juicy flesh. It ripens later in the autumn.

Plant in full sun in a warm, sheltered spot, in deep, fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Pears flower early, so avoid frost pockets. Prune in winter to keep an open shape and encourage fruiting spurs, and keep the three varieties in balance so no single branch becomes dominant. Thin heavy crops after the natural early summer drop, and pick the pears while still firm, then ripen them indoors for a few days for the best flavour. Fully hardy.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch.

Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.