Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Turning A New Leaf Conference 2015, 1 by greenthumb99

greenthumb99 wrote:
It's Callery, not Celery. It is the Asian pear that the Bradford Pear was bred from. Initial result was sterile but had branches very prone to breaking, so the genetics were tweaked to reduce this trait. Unfortunately, it turns out that it could then cross with other pears, producing essentially the original Callery Pear. This plant has become highly invasive, quickly forming expansive. impenetrable thickets. Driving on I-270 in the spring one sees acres of white adjacent to interchanges where this plant has displaced virtually everything else. This resulting plant is so thorny that only small animals can enter these thickets of flora mono-culture. Below is a photo taken of the property of the most recently constructed high school in Leesburg, Va. Acres and acres.