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Scientific: Pyrus calleryana
Common: callery pear
Family: Rosaceae
Origin: Japan, China, Vietnam

Pronounciation: PIE-rus cal-ler-ee-A-na

Hardiness zones:
Sunset 2-9, 14-24 (marginal in 13)
USDA 2-9

Landscape Use: Accent, lawn tree, courtyard tree, specimen tree, espalier, poor street tree, patio tree, seasonal accent.

Form & Character: Upright and formal, globose, stiff, oriental, mesic. This tree makes one think of being in a city in the eastern United States. Callery pear is not a 'western' tree.....well, maybe with the exception of the grunge cities of Portland and Seattle?

Growth Habit: Deciduous, woody, broadleaf perennial tree, strongly upright to spreading with age, moderate growth rate to 30-feet tall with a somewhat less than equal spread.

Foliage/Texture: Leaves oval with serrate to scalloped margins, fall color yellowish to a rich reddish purple. Thick stems with prominent lenticels that are at first smooth, light brown to reddish-brown. Later bark turns grayish brown with shallow furrows; medium texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Striking but stinky, white, axillary, perfect flowers, 1-inch diameter, in clusters in early spring before leaf. Most cultivars of Pyrus calleryana don't produce fruit in Phoenix; otherwise in "more favorable climates" this tree will occassionally grow small, rounded (1/2-inch diameter) brown pomes (micro-pears) that are rather bitter (sorry vegans, not food).

Seasonal Color: Yellow to red fall color and white late winter to early spring flowers just prior to spring leaf.

Temperature: Tolerant

Light: Partial to full sun, absolutely avoid west sun exposure on trunks.

Soil: Avoid high pH.

Watering: Regular...and I mean regular in the sense of this tree NEEDS water and lots of it in the parched desert.

Pruning: Raise the crown base only as needed (remember, it's highly prone to trunk sunscald in Phoenix), remove crossing branches.

Propagation: Vegetative cutting, grafting.

Disease and Pests: Aphids, fairly resistant to fire blight.

Additional comments: The callery pear is known for its cultivated varieties of various forms. 'Bradford' is an older cultivar that is HORRIBLY prone to catastrophic limb failure due to its highly, acutely-angled branch attachments. The cultivar 'Aristocrat' is less prone to catastrophic limb failure than others because its branch attachment angles are generally less acute. 'Chanticleer' is upright and narrow. 'Redspire' is a cultivar with a pyramidal form.

In the Phoenix area, Callery pear flowering and fall color is inconsistent. On balance, Callery pear is a nice, mesic flowering accent tree that is at best only marginally adapted to the environmental conditions of the Phoenix area. It is a better choice for landscape use in higher elevation and wetter Arizona city landscapes such as Payson, Prescott, and Flagstaff.

Just remember: Be smart. Be wise. Make good choices! And NEVER recommend or plant the Callery pear cultivar 'Bradford'.