The Pear Tree Garden is the first to greet visitors into our East Asian part of the arboretum
Manchurian pear tree, Pyrus ussuriensis
Right below Baggböle manor you will find the Pear Tree Garden, it has got its name from the manchurian pear trees, Pyrus ussuriensis, that were planted here in the middle of the 1980s. The pear trees are very decorative with their early bloom (in the middle of may) with simple, big, white flowers. In the autumn they produce a lot of yellowgreen pear fruits which are edible but taste to bitter to be truly enjoyed
Over the last couple of years a lot of amur chokecherry trees, Prunus maackii, have self-sowed on the slopes between the pear trees and the manors sheep pen. The parents of these trees is located about 40 m away from the site. When those trees were planted in the mid 1980s the species were relatively unknown in the northern part of Sweden but as of late it has become one of the most common trees in Umeås parks and gardens. The young trees have a remarkable growth and are already a couple of meters high, closely together in a self-sowed stand they make a unique and exotic impression.
Manchurian walnut, Juglans mandshurica in the foreground and amur chokecherry, Prunus maackii, in the background. Both species have a pretty yellow autumn color.
Complementing this exotic touch with their big leaves we also have manchurian walnut, Juglans mandshurica and manchurian ash, Fraxinus mandshurica, which also are fast growers.
Another recent favourite is the korean mountain-ash, Sorbus alnifolia, with a lovely bloom with small white flowers in spring which then produces beautiful red fruits in the autumn. According to most nursery’s plant descriptions these plants belong to hardiness zone III. Our six individuals with heights up to 6-7 m, were 25 year old when they were moved in 2011 from an old disused research station in Röbäcksdalen in Umeå. (Read more about the research from the station and Sweden’s largest tree moving company).
Chlorosarca hawthorn, Crataegus chlorosarca in red autumn colors. Manchurian pear tree, Pyrus ussuriensis, to the right and you can see a yellowgreen manchurian ash in the background, Fraxinus mandshurica.