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Name That Plant!

Ornamental Flowering tree --- pear??

12 years ago

I have this tree in the backyard that's been there when i bought the house about 5 years ago...I've decided to plant some hostas around the base of it, but halfway through was scared of ruining the tree -- it has big roots that are exposed which i am not sure if the tree naturally does it, or its because of soil erosion, since it's on a ledge (see pic)

i've looked online and believe that it's a flowering pear tree...but what kind?? Most of the information i've looked up seem to point to it as a bradford pear, but it also says that the bradford pear flowers has a not-so-nice smell, and that it is very prone to breaking in bad weather.

i've never noticed a smell (and i have a picnic table right under it) and it has survived many massive storms that CT had last year without much, if any damage (watch, now i'm jinxing myself)

so...what kind of tree is it? did i make a huge mistake digging around the base to plant shade varieties? I did notice a LOT of small roots while digging, and have ended using a very small hand shovel and mostly my fingers/hands to make the holes. Also, I've applied mulch to the base and surrounding area for the first time since i've lived here....i just want to make sure that i'm not making the wrong decisions here and end up killing it when it has flourished with my negligence for the past 5 years.

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Comments (7)

flora_uk
12 years ago
Can you show us the whole tree? Its shape is a help in identification. As are its leaves. And what sort of fruit does it produce? Off the top of my head the flowers and young leaves look more like crab apple than pear.
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Embothrium
12 years ago
Flowering crabapple.
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doesnt look like pear to me either.. and congrats on that ... lol .. i dont think you are going to get a reason why one cluster of buds bloomed late ... trees do weird things.. when under intense scrutiny ... i wouldnt be surprised if there is a term for it ... but i dont know it .. compare at this link .. ken https://www.google.com/search?q=double+flowering+cherry&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=V3JsVai_HIO-sAXDkIDgDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=856&bih=745&dpr=0.9
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My Bonfire Peach tree is in flower. The thing is, the 4 or 5 inches of last years growth does not have blooms. All the blooms are lower on the branches. Will it do this every year? I thought it would be like a flowering pear and have the blooms all along the stems even the growth from last year......
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bagfashionista
Original Author
12 years ago
thanks for the replies..

the tree bears no fruit -- just flowers. well, no fruit that i know of...perhaps very small berry type if any at all? birds do seem to like the tree

photo of tree is in link below.

Here is a link that might be useful:
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vetivert8
12 years ago
Could be a flowering cherry. One of the Japanese white singles. They have very small fruit in autumn, beloved of birds, given the number of wildings I see around.:-(
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Embothrium
12 years ago
Definitely a crab - compare with Malus baccata var. mandshurica, for instance.
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bagfashionista
Original Author
12 years ago
but it's ok that i was digging around the base and planting stuff around it and mulching ? i was as careful as i can be....
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Carrie B
12 years ago
Can you post a closeup of the base of the tree? As long as you're not cutting any but very fine tree roots, and as long as your mulch is not too thick and not going up the trunk of the tree, it should be fine.
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