Williams' Bon Chrétien
The classic tinned pear, and one that must be eaten within days of ripening — it goes from hard to over-ripe quickly and will not keep. Known worldwide as Bartlett. This is also the cultivar that makes rootstock notes necessary: it will not form a durable union with quince on its own.
A cultivar of Pear. Everything on this page is about the cultivar; how to grow the species is on the plant page, and how big the tree gets is on the rootstock page.
Names and origin
- Also sold as
- Bartlett
On the name “Bartlett”
The same cultivar under its American name. A British catalogue listing 'Williams' and an American one listing 'Bartlett' are describing one tree.
Pollination
What this cultivar needs before it will set a crop.
- Self-fertility
- Needs a pollination partner
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partner
- A compatible partner is required
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Flowering group
- 3 on the pear scale
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear pollination groups
Checked 2026-08-13
- Ploidy
- diploid
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- NIAB — National Institute of Agricultural Botany: Cultivar ploidy records
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partners needed
- one
Partners for Williams' Bon Chrétien, from the 8 pear cultivars GrowingHQ holds
Computed by the pollination engine from the flowering groups, ploidy and recorded pairings on each record — not a hand-written list. The scope is exactly what the heading says: these are the answers that exist in this catalogue, not the answers that exist.
| Cultivar | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Beth | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 3 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Concorde | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 3 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Conference | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 3 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Doyenné du Comice | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Invincible | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Onward | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
| Winter Nelis | compatible | Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 3) and both produce viable pollen. |
The fruit
- Season
- Early
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — season
Checked 2026-08-13
- Use
- Eating, Preserving
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — use
Checked 2026-08-13
- Keeping
- Eat within days
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — storage
Checked 2026-08-13
The plant
- Vigour
- Average vigour
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
- Habit
- Upright
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — habit
Checked 2026-08-13
- Cropping
- Crops regularly
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pear cultivars — cropping
Checked 2026-08-13
On each rootstock
The size of the tree comes from the rootstock. What the cultivar contributes is a direction, in words — GrowingHQ does not multiply the range by a vigour factor, because no source supports the multiplier and the resulting number would look far more precise than the inputs are.
| Rootstock | Height | With this cultivar |
|---|---|---|
| Quince C | 250–350 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Williams' Bon Chrétien is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.The same incompatibility as Quince A, and for the same reason: both are quince, and the failure is between the species rather than between the rootstock clones. |
| Quince A | 300–450 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Williams' Bon Chrétien is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.Graft-incompatible with quince: the union fails over time unless an interstem of a compatible cultivar — 'Beurré Hardy' is the usual one — is grafted between rootstock and cultivar. Trees sold as Williams on quince are normally already double-worked, but it is worth asking. |
Full profiles for each of these are on the rootstock page.
Cultivar record reviewed 2026-08-13.