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| COMMON DOMESTIC PEAR |
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| ORNAMENTAL PEAR AS STREET TREE |
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| PEAR FLOWERS |
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| OREGON GRAPE HOLLY |
Thursday, 7:45 AM. 40 degrees, wind NE, moderate with stronger gusts. The sky is absolutely clear and the barometer predicts the same. Cool but beautiful.
The apple orchards should be in full bloom this weekend, as a few crabapple trees and apple trees are starting to bloom in town, both about ten days late. The common pear,
Pyrus communis, is of Eurasian origin and has been cultivated from ancient times, and there are now many different types of edible pears. They are in full bloom in town. Like apple trees, they can be very long lived, although they are susceptible to fire blight, as are apples. Ornamental pears, which bear only very small, inedible pears, have become quite popular. They bloom profusely in early spring, and many are of a size and shape to make good small street trees. They are mostly cultivars of the Chinese
Pyrus calleryana, introduced to this country early in the 1920’s. Some have been less than hardy, and structurally weak, but there are many new, better hybrids, and we are planting some as street trees in Bayfield, the one pictured being ‘Mountain Frost’.
The Oregon grape holly,
Mahonia aquifolium, is hardy in my back yard and is attractive in foliage, flower and fruit. The yellow flowers are very fragrant and the inedible blue berries very attractive. The leathery leaves are evergreen. I have seen the species growing in its native habitat in the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest.
We had our first paying guests of the year in the Garden View apartment the last several nights, an American father and Korean mother and son. Straight from Seoul with its air and light pollution, the latter had never seen stars in the night sky before, and they spent a good deal of time outdoors at night gazing at them. I couldn’t produce any northern lights for them, though.
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