Clapp's Favorite Pear Tree

Clapp’s Favorite is a handsome and hardy New England heirloom pear — originating in Massachusetts in the late 1800s and still valued today for its vigorous upright habit, beautiful extra-large sun-yellow fruit with a distinctive red cheek, and a late August harvest that arrives one to two weeks before Bartlett. The juicy, fine-grained, sweet flesh is exceptional for fresh eating and canning alike, and the early timing makes Clapp’s Favorite the pear that opens the season and signals summer’s best harvests are here. Cold hardy in Zones 5–7.

One to Two Weeks Before Bartlett — The Season Opener

Clapp’s Favorite’s early ripening relative to Bartlett is its most practical seasonal advantage. For home orchardists who want fresh pears as early as possible, or who want to succession-plant pear varieties for an extended harvest window, Clapp’s Favorite is the natural first chapter — large, beautiful, and fully ripe a week or two before Bartlett comes in. The late August harvest window is reliable and consistent year after year.

Extra-Large Sun-Yellow Pears With a Red Cheek

Clapp’s Favorite’s appearance is genuinely striking. The extra-large fruit has sun-yellow skin with an attractive red cheek blush that develops with sun exposure — beautiful at harvest and impressive on the table. The juicy, fine-grained, sweet flesh is crisp and satisfying for fresh eating straight off the tree, and holds its structure well through canning and preserving. It’s the kind of pear that makes people stop and look twice at the fruit bowl.

Vigorous, Upright, and Hardy — A Massachusetts Original

Clapp’s Favorite’s vigorous upright growth habit makes it one of the more structurally handsome pear trees available — a tall, attractive orchard or landscape tree that’s as beautiful growing as it is productive at harvest. Originating in Massachusetts in the late 1800s, it has more than a century of proven performance in cold-climate pear growing behind it.

Why Growers Choose Clapp’s Favorite

• One to two weeks before Bartlett — the earliest-ripening standard European pear
• Extra-large sun-yellow fruit with red cheek — beautiful and impressive at harvest
• Juicy, fine-grained, sweet flesh — outstanding for fresh eating and canning
• Massachusetts origin, late 1800s — over 125 years of proven cold-climate performance
• Vigorous upright habit — structurally handsome and productive
• Cold hardy in Zones 5–7 — reliable in challenging northern pear-growing climates