Walters Medlar Seeds

This medium sized fruiting strain of medlar is ideal for late fall early winter consumption. The fruit 'blets'  or freezes and thaws leaving a creamy pear like texture with a pear and apple flavor. The Ecos strain was collected from a nursery person, Cliff Walters, I met when I graduated from college in the late 70's. His nursery, Dutch Mountain Nursery, specialized in fruits for birds. He invited me into his house for lunch one day and inspired me to start my nursery and ship plants around the country. After he passed away unexpectedly, his family allowed me to collect a few medlars from a plant he had. I germinated his seeds and planted the trees on a hill top on a windswept sandy dune type soil This is the most productive of the medlars I have with double the yields of the large grafted types. The plants also have the ability to spread by underground stolons. The stolons do not spread to fast but it does allow for reproduction of larger plantings using an already large established underground root system. It took 20 years before the trees begin to produce runners. These can be pruned upwards to develop good scaffolds to hold the heavy fruit set. I maintain a small collection of medlars at my farm and by far, this one is the most productive and easy to process. In some ways, similar to the variety, Supermol, Walters produces very uniform seedlings all with good production of small fruit. The question really is on processing and how to use the plant. I call it the ultimate sauce plant. 

'Beacon':   'Beacon' is a new variety of medlar from Oikos Tree Crops: originally from our Walters seed grown medlars. This selection out yields all the other seedlings making it the most productive selection I have yet found in my seedling plantings. Other seed grown plants are just as productive but this one is slightly more with consistent in yields. The plant also has the largest caliper of all seedlings now over a foot across at the base. It has never shown any hint of fireblight and produces a small tree that is truly a beacon on the hill I planted it on over 30 years ago. Medlars can be grafted onto hawthorne and this is normally the way it is reproduced clonally. For those with a proper rootstock, please request the scionwood and we will send 'Beacon' with the seeds. Grafting can be done like apples in the spring in a dormant condition. 'Beacon' is available with the purchase of the seeds free upon request. 

To germinate the seed:  Add a moist soil media around the seeds like slightly damp Canadian peat moss. Medlar seeds are doubly dormant requiring two years to germinate. The seeds require a warm, cold, warm and then cold again. The seeds have a very hard seed coat and along with the immature embyo the seed continues to grow and develop until the bony shell is weakened by soil bacteria and then it splits releasing the embryo and the root emerges. One way to overcome dormancy is to put in a propagation tray outside and cover the seeds with 1/4 inch of sand. Screen the tray to prevent pilferage. Most seeds will sprout within the second year and can be treated like apple seeds.