The Bradford pear tree held such promise: It took root in the worst soil, grew quickly and needed little maintenance. It produced beautiful white flowers in the spring, stunning orange and red leaves in the fall, and an appealing lollipop shape that dignified the most humble of streets year-round.
Too bad it didn't last.
The tree proved to be brittle and unstable; it could come down in a heavy wind or ice storm. Often, the trunks could not support the weight of the branches, and they would snap off, crushing cars and sometimes people. And those lovely flowers - it turns out they smelled awful.
Now, as the Bradfords planted in the 1960s and '70s reach their life expectancy, cities are removing them before they cause more trouble. In Baltimore, the city will remove 165 trees - many of them Bradfords - along Charles Street.
In Boston, "You look at Beacon Hill and Charlestown, and a lot of those neighborhoods have real tight streets, and it's pretty much all Bradford pears," said Boston city arborist Leif Fixen.
"For two weeks, everybody gets hooked on them because of the beautiful flowers, but the second they reach maturity, they just fall apart."
The Bradfords are being replaced largely by trees that don't have ornamental blooms, so in coming years the urban vista will be changing: fewer white flowers and perfectly shaped trees, more green leaves and asymmetrical growth. Baltimore is swapping the Bradfords for American elms, red maples and Japanese zelkovas.
The Bradford - developed at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Introduction Station in Glenn Dale, Md. - was introduced to the public in 1963. By the time the problems with the tree were apparent, thousands of them had been planted along city streets and in subdivisions and yards across the country.
"Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point down the line somebody doesn't put a ban on planting these trees," said Rob DeSeo, chief horticulturist for the National Park Service, who is not a fan.
Baltimore is waging its own small-scale assault. As sidewalk and street improvement work transforms Charles Street, the Bradfords between Madison Street and North Avenue are being replaced. The $11 million streetscape project will be completed by March - so just when the Bradfords would be in bloom, they'll be gone.
