Beautiful white blossoms in spring
Lots of Bradford pear trees flourish near where I live in northwest New Mexico. Their white blossoms cover the trees like cotton candy in early spring. On some streets, the trees line entire blocks, filling the skyline with beautiful blossoms.
I wanted to get a picture of the trees in bloom, but I waited too long. Today, the wind began blowing in brisk gusts, and for a few minutes tiny pieces of hail battered the ground. I’m not sure how many of those beautiful white blossoms will still be on the trees tomorrow. So the picture in this blog is from early April last year when the wind wasn’t blowing. My Picture This app identified it as a Bradford pear.
As beautiful as Bradford pear trees are in full bloom, their unpleasant scent and invasive nature make tree planters think twice about planting them. Some people say the trees smell like rotten fish until the blossoms fall to the ground.
In the 1970s, when several of the houses in my neighborhood were built, landscapers and municipal planners really liked Bradford pear trees for their beautiful spring white flowers and their fall foliage and because they were supposed to be small. Later, problems began to develop.
Some Bradford Pear trees turned into giants, growing 40 or 50 feet tall. Sometimes weak branches developed from one section of the trunk, causing trees to fall apart when they were only 20 years old. Some trees are prone to diseases that make twigs turn black and curly or leaves fall off after turning black, brown or crispy.
Because Bradford pear trees have been crossed with other flowering pear trees, less than pleasant characteristics of some of those other trees began showing up. Some produced thorns. If thorny branches fell in the roadway, they could puncture tires. Some trees began growing in aggressive thickets, making it harder for native plants to thrive.
Because of problems with Bradford pears, they have been banned in some states, among them Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Some cities even encourage residents to remove the trees.
Thank goodness, there are other choices for trees with beautiful spring flowers. Some are flowering dogwoods, serviceberry and flowering cherry. Other choices are available as well, and employees at your favorite nursery can make suggestions for you.
If you have a Bradford pear tree that you really like and that doesn’t smell bad, produce thorns, or exhibit other negative tendencies, hang onto it. It’s a keeper!