Bradford Pear Trees

I believe in giving the devil his due and, in this case, the "devil" is Bradford pear trees. The experts warn that it's a mistake to plant Bradford pear trees, and rightly so: their limbs break too easily in stormy weather. I've seen the limbs of too many Bradford pear trees lying on the ground after a good wind to buy one myself.

But there's no need to restrict reports of what I've seen to the negative. So in that spirit, let me share what I'm seeing at this very moment, as I look out the window here in my New England home in early December: my neighbor's Bradford pear trees are still almost fully clothed in their orangey-bronze autumn leaves! As such, the Bradford pear trees now stand as autumn's lone torchbearers, since most of the other colorful trees have by now exchanged their autumn garb for winter nudity. I, for one, am grateful for my neighbor's "mistake" in planting Bradford pear trees.

Note on the Comments section below for Bradford pear trees: As of 7/14/2008, 50 comments have been posted, and that's a good cut-off figure (it's getting too unwieldy). No further questions on Bradford pear trees will be answered in the Comments section; instead, please post any questions in the Landscaping forum.