A Close Up Look at Bradford Pear Trees

One of the earliest Spring-blooming trees here in Vicksburg is the Bradford Pear Tree, and this time of year, the trees are covered with beautiful white blossoms which appear before the leaves emerge.

I took the following two pictures a couple of weeks ago when the buds were just emerging.

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like)

It didn't take them long to look like this:

Bradford Pears are an ornamental landscape tree that can grow up to 40 feet in height, and their shape reminds me of the little "lollipop-shaped" trees children draw. Notice how the limbs seem to grow straight up.

As glorious as they are from a distance, I discovered that their crowning glory is found deep within their delicate flowers. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked through the lens to get a close up view of one of the blossoms.

This is what I saw ...

I hope you will click on these pictures to see the details of these exquisite flowers. I love the little heart-shaped purple centers ...

I hope you enjoyed seeing the inner beauty of a Bradford Pear tree blossom as much as I enjoyed discovering it and capturing it with my camera. During the next few weeks I hope to capture more of God's glory hidden deep within His glorious Spring flowers and trees.

Follow-up: I'd like to share a comment my blogging friend Rachel made about this post. For those of you who don't know her, I hope you will treat yourself to a visit to her blog, Lawn Tea. Rachel has a God-given talent when it comes to writing. Born and raised in Mississippi, but now living "North of the Mason-Dixon Line," I've often told her that she writes with a Southern accent. Here is her eloquent comment about Bradford Pear Trees and their blossoms: What a splendid display on a cloudy Monday morning! A bright and cheery prospect for the whole week, with all the sweet blossoms, and the pristine majesty of the whole tree. The lawnful down the block won't be ready for a couple of weeks, I imagine, but we stroll to peek almost every day. Your peachy little buds last week were tightly-furled little blooms, each cluster like the bouquet of an avant-garde bride, with unbloomed peonies of exotic names imported from Belgium or some other flowery location. These this week were the open, lush blooms of a Southern wedding, with welcoming tents and big bowls of lemonade and Sweet Tea, sweeps of green lawn, and a lavish hand with the hospitality. How I DO go on, when something captures my imagination as do your photos. Every time. A friend told me once that I'm the original "oceans in a drop of water," person. And OH, the oceans you convey! Isn't that lovely! And here is a link to a beautiful post Rachel wrote for Lawn Tea, in which she elaborates on the beauty of pear blossoms ... Blooming Bouquets. When you visit Rachel, please tell her I sent you.