Bradford Pear

[txbeyer]

Of all the trees I have seen in Austin, the Bradford Pear produces the most spectacular fall color and is the most planted landscape tree. In Houston, they would never color so beautifully as they do here in Austin, where the colder temperatures seem to have a direct bearing on this. For those of you up north, fall comes in December in central and coastal TX. See the picture I posted in the Gallery.

[PlantSwap]

I'm not a big fan of the Bradford Pear in our area. They definately don't get as bright red-yello-orange as your pic around here. They do however, break apart in high wind storms...

[txbeyer]

You are correct in saying they tend to split at the branching nodes easier than most trees - a genetic defect of sorts. This is due to their very compact shape and the small angles in the branch notching from the trunk, but they do color spectacularly in colder areas - the point I was making. I never saw one anywhere close to these colors in Houston where a freezing temperature is a true rarity.

[denisew]

I have seen too many of them knocked over from strong winds here in North Texas. They are very susceptible to cotton root rot, so a little bit of breeze and there they go - split in half or completely knocked over at the base. I guess that is Mother Nature's way of getting rid of those trees. But, I do have to admit they do look beautiful in spring with their white flowers (now), summer with their beautiful rounded shape and georgous color in the fall. I just wouldn't want one planted in my yard. I'll let other people deal with the fallen debris.

[txbeyer]

Wow, pretty strong negative opinion! Fortunately, we aren't as exposed to high winds as you folks in Dallas, nor have I ever experienced the problems you mentioned. We inherited one that the builder planted before we bought the house and all I can say is that this tree has been a show stopper to me and does much better in Austin than one I planted in Houston. There are so many other nice flowering tree alternatives, many of which you can grow in Dallas and we can't in Austin due to your colder winters (Crabapples, Purple Leaf Plum, Flowering Cherries, etc.). Growing trees well in the prairieland of N. Texas can be a challenge - you just don't see many growing naturally up there. Which ones do best in your area?

[denisew]

Purple leafed plums are not very long lived as they also have the same problem with the cotton root rot. Now their branching structure isn't as bad, but right now the ones I have seen in my neighborhood are very pretty. A friend of mine has three purple leafed plums and two of them are leaning. She thinks there might be a rot problem at the base, but will wait until it is absolutely necessary to remove them. They're not in a place where they would cause any damage to a house or fence.

Mexican Plums are really nice to grow in our area and have a flowering habit that is similar to bradford pears. The fruit might be a bit messy, but it does attract songbirds. I have also seen residents here with peach trees which have very pretty pink blooms. I haven't seen any crabapple trees. We are in the north part of zone 8 and it gets pretty darned hot here in the summer.

An excellent source for finding more flowering trees for Texas is the Texas Smartscape website. It is http://www.txsmartscape.com . They have a plant search database where you can look up ornamental trees.

Some good choices are desert willow, birds of paradise, Mexican buckeye, Eve's necklace, crape myrtle, little gem magnolia, redbud, pomegranate, possomhaw holly, rose of Sharon, rough-leafed dogwood, vitex, etc. These are excellent choices for flowering trees in either the spring or summer.