Medlar Tree for Sale

The Medlar is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world — grown across Europe and the Middle East for over 3,000 years — and yet today it remains one of the most uncommon and underappreciated trees in the modern garden. If you are looking for something genuinely different, with a history and character that very few other trees can match, the Common Medlar is extraordinary.

The fruit is unlike anything else in the fruit world. Brown, russet-skinned, and wide open at the blossom end, medlars look like something from a medieval painting — which is appropriate, given that they appeared regularly in the orchards and manuscripts of that era. The fruit is harvested in late autumn and needs to go through a process called "bletting" — a period of cold storage or frost exposure — before it becomes soft, spreadable, and deliciously sweet, with a rich, caramel-apple flavour that is entirely its own.

Beyond the fruit, the medlar is a beautiful ornamental garden tree. It produces masses of large, white flowers in spring, offers excellent autumn foliage colour, and has an attractive, gnarled character that develops with age. It is compact enough for most gardens and remarkably cold-hardy and adaptable, tolerating a range of soils and conditions.

A medlar is self-fertile — you do not need more than one tree to get a crop — and grafted trees begin bearing relatively early. Plant one in a sunny spot, forget about complicated spray programmes, and enjoy a taste of something genuinely ancient.