Bradford Pear Tree Love

[lavendertook]

These are more pics across Greenbelt Lake and down the southwest branch I took a month ago. See those dark green trees with a touch of burgundy in the center here? Those are Bradford pear trees. And they still had some pretty leaves hanging on this weekend--I took some pics I'll show you later.

Let me just write a little encomium to Bradford pears, because I've come to love this tree a lot. In the spring it's one of the first trees to flower with clouds of white blooms. It's used as a total utility tree around here and planted all along the highways, so there are stretches along the Beltway that are just gorgeous in the spring. One of my spring observances is to make it a point to drive through the Ivy Lane Office Park and the Greenway Shopping Center parking lot--names that ring full of the romance of spring, right?--they are so full of these trees. Last year, while I was in the parking lot, some flurries fell while their blooms were already out, and it was wonderful to see white petals and snowflakes falling together.

This fall, when so many trees just browned out, the Bradford pear has been putting on a singular and spectacular show that is still in progress. Its oranges and yellows aren't quite as bright as sugar maples, the divas of the autumn display, but it has a wider range of color, first shading to deep burgundies and purplish wines. It manages to keep samples of all its color phases on hand through the changing, so that the tree will be simultaneously dark and light green, yellow, gold, orange, rust, peach, cardinal red, burgundy, and purple wine. And it's just held on so long this year, and is still going when all the other trees have closed up shop for the winter. We may make it into December before they all drop the last of their leaves.


Even though most all of the other deciduous trees are now bare, the grass and undergrowth is still full of green. The holly trees are also more full of berries than I remember seeing before. We don't have as many pine trees in this area as you find in the belts both north and south of here, so I'm really appreciating those green vines and bushes. The silver lining of this damp, dark year is that we may only have 3 full months of gray landscape to suffer through before the world starts greening again, so I'm pretty psyched about that.


I wish there weren't a big old cloud bank behind these trees because they would look much more vibrant with blue behind them.

Comments

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

You have such beautiful, beautiful trees! :D

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

I love them. (-: I'll post some pics later of how they look when they're all green in the summer--not quite as exciting, but nice.

[romeny.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't think we slow down and think enough about how awesome nature is in all it's fury and beauty. It is just amazing how lovely those trees are.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm really affected by weather, very visually oriented, and easily distracted by colors, so I probably notice more often than average, but there's always more going on. They were gorgeous on that day.

[belleferret.livejournal.com]

Bradford pears are lovely in the spring!

It's wonderful to revisit the lovely colors of fall now that grey winter is knocking on our door.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

They are--I'm just amused that they make a parking lot and an office park the grandest places to be in the beginning of spring.

Yay! I'm glad the timing is working well for you! (-: When I get through this set of the beginning peak, I'll try to post some of the ones I took this weekend of the end colors, then I'll eventually go back to summer and spring pics I didn't post.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! We have no more brightly colored leaves here. It is teh calm before the storm that is winter here...ack! (we're supposed to get snow flurries on Thanskgiving, eep!)

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

*picks up Choey, puts her in your lap, wraps you both up in a fleecy blanket, brings you tea*

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

*purrs*

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

*hugses*

[shirebound]

White petals and snowflakes... sounds lovely.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

And all that glory in a shopping center parking lot, too! (-; But it's the place to be at the beginning of spring.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

The trees are so beautiful. We used to have a gigantic holly tree beside the house where Jim and I used to live, and it was a most glorious sight in cold weather.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

I need their green so much in winter. There's a nice holly right under my window, and luckily female, so it's nicely berried. They cut down a scraggly tree leaning over it this summer, so I'm looking forward to it having room to really grow now.