Bradford Pears
March 27th 2008 by Kelly in Charlottesville
It’s starting to look like Spring outside with all the Bradford pears speckling a lot of streets around Charlottesville. The pretty white flowers and fruit look really pretty when they bloom, but they don’t smell very good. It’s weird that such a pretty tree can smell so bad. Walking around the UVA campus the smell is everywhere. After a few weeks it goes away, but for now we know it’s Spring because of these pretty budding flowers and the smell they create. Bradford’s are originally from China and Korea and were thought to be the perfect street tree because of the early bloom and fall color.
Do you think they smell bad because of the fruit they produce?
March 27th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Bradford pears should be outlawed. In addition to being the horticultural equivalent of pink flamingos, they’ve a nasty habit of splitting in half if you look at them the wrong way. There is a line of them on Barracks Rd/Garth that is an excellent example. The property owner finally seemed to give up and top them, which was arguably worse than just removing them and planting a “real” tree.
If you must have an ornamental pear, then there are lots of different varieties that are superior and not as likely to split.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am
So that’s where that smell was coming from. You learn something new every day.