Today I begrudgingly bring you some very beautiful flowers. The only reason I'm hesitant is because of the tree that these perfect little white blooms flower from each spring. Can you guess it? If not I'll give you a couple clues - it's over planted. Still can't guess? It's smells awful in the spring, I'm talking rotting-fish awful. Still can't guess? It breaks apart easily in storms due to its poor branching structure or for another clue think - great-big-Q-tips...I bet you have a clue. It's the Bradford pear tree! The builder in our neighborhood saw to it that each and every house has two Bradford pears in the front yard. Why not two Yoshino cherry trees? Or for a native Bradford pear substitute they could have planted two serviceberry trees? If we had the serviceberries we'd also get the benefit of the edible fruit each year (as long as we beat the birds to it). Nope we have smelly, easily broken, too often planted Bradford pears. But at least they look nice for a couple weeks in spring!
Here take a peek:
The blooms are beautiful but emit a foul smell that attracts pollinators - yes it really does!
The branches frequently break in storms due to the convergence of the many branches at the trunk in a 'V' shape. Branches in a 'V' shape break off easily and take a large chunk of trunk with it. Branches grown at a more 90 degree angle from the tree won't break off the trunk of the tree as easily and the bark and the tree has a better chance of survival and a nicer appearance after the accident.
And just so I can show you a photo of something in my garden I can be proud of:
More Crocuses!
What tree do you not like to see planted?
Labels: flowering trees, spring blooming flowers, Spring Color
