Knowledgebase

Pear tree blossoms in October, Fort Collins #282780

Asked October 05, 2015, 5:44 PM EDT

Is this abnormal?  Our oldest pear tree (maybe 30 years old, semi-dwarf) has, as usual, produced a nice crop this year, and we picked the last pears in late August or so.  Suddenly it has new blossoms - maybe 25 of them - on two branches (not new branches this year).  The blossoms are growing and look healthy.  Any ideas why? This is October!

Bobbie Mielke (we live in central Fort Collins, not far from CSU and the hospital)

Larimer County Colorado

Expert Response

Hi Bobbie,

It's unusual but not unheard of. I also heard about a lilac that was in bloom in the Denver area.

This information is from New Mexico State University:

Fall blossoming in fruit trees (and other spring flowering trees and shrubs) can occur if the tree is stressed during the summer (heat, drought, etc.). While stressed, the tree may become dormant, and then when the weather moderates, if conditions are just right, the tree comes out of dormancy and flowers as if it were springtime. The trees do not usually expend all their blossom buds at this time, so there should be more flowers next spring, and hopefully fruit.

Spring flowering trees and shrubs form their flower buds in the late summer, so timing is a factor and the reason this does not happen every year. There was sufficient moisture as the buds formed, and then the environmental stresses induced dormancy, but the dormancy ended at a time when the temperatures appropriate for flowering occurred. There will not be time before frost for any fruit that formed to mature.

I would attribute this to our hot, dry summer and our very mild, warm fall. You can remove the blossoms if you wish. Keep the tree well watered throughout the rest of fall and the winter.

Alison O'Connor, PhD Replied October 06, 2015, 11:15 AM EDT

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