Stop Planting Invasives!

[Johnsfolly]

Anyone else hate that trees as much as I do?!? Their flowers stink and they are taking over the landscape. I almost hate them as much as bush honeysuckle, which I would attack every year in Columbia and remove as many I could. I have also done a lot of native plantings at our house in Columbia, including redbuds, Virginia bluebells, columbines, Serviceberry, ninebark bushes, golden currants, wild geraniums, celadine poppies, Jacob's ladders, red buckeyes, etc. So seeing these guys take over the landscape is terrible.

Nonnative Callery pears multiply quickly and crowd out native Missouri tree species.

 

MDC recommends avoiding invasive Callery pear tree during spring planting Nonnative Callery pears multiply quickly and crowd out native Missouri tree species. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The spring season is underway and many Missouri plants and trees will be blooming with life and color. Unfortunately, one invasive tree species will soon be prominent along roadways and other natural open areas: the Callery pear tree. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) urges the public to avoid this nonnative tree species when shopping for a new tree this spring. The Callery pear, also known as the Bradford pear, Cleveland Select, Autumn Blaze, or Aristocrat, is a highly invasive tree that multiples quickly and crowds out Missouri native plants. “The Callery pear rose to fame as a popular ornamental landscape tree in the 1960s because it was inexpensive, it grew fast, and it provided white blooms in the spring,” said MDC Forestry Field Programs Supervisor Russell Hinnah. “But that’s where the list of benefits ends. Different varieties of the tree were planted close to each other, they cross-pollinated, and spread everywhere.” Callery pears’ ability to cross-pollinate is why many roadsides, rights-of-way, parks, and other natural areas are filled with white blooms every spring. The trees are infamous for the stinky smell, but also have poor branch structure. They don’t fare well in bad weather, often losing limbs or splitting apart. MDC encourages homeowners and landscapers to grow native when picking a tree to plant this spring. “The best decision is to plant a tree species native to Missouri, and there are several great trees to substitute,” said Hinnah. “Serviceberry trees produce similar white blooms in the spring and they have small red fruits that attract wildlife.” Other great alternatives include American plum, hawthorn, eastern redbud, and Missouri’s state tree, the flowering dogwood. Hawthorns provide bountiful fruit and attractive fall color, while dogwoods thrive in shady areas, but can be difficult to grow. Learn more about native trees and landscaping on your property online at https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-care. CALLERY PEAR BUY-BACK EVENTS Missourians with Callery pear trees on their property have the opportunity to cut down their trees and receive a free, noninvasive tree in return at several “buy-back” events around the state on April 18. The events are made possible through partnerships with the Missouri Invasive Plant Council, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Forrest Keeling Nursery, and MDC. Registration will be open beginning March 15. To qualify, participants must submit a photo of their cut-down Callery pear online. One free native tree will be provided to each registered participant at the selected location on April 18 from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. Participating cities include: St. Louis Columbia Cape Girardeau Poplar Bluff Springfield Joplin Lebanon Hannibal Kansas City For more information on the buy-back events and how to register, visit moinvasives.org. To learn about native trees for landscaping, planting tips, backyard tree care, and more helpful information, visit https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-care. TOP PHOTO: Callery pear trees are easily spotted in springtime in open natural areas and along roadsides, such as this one in Jefferson City. The invasive tree spreads quickly and crowds out native plants. MDC urges the public to avoid this non-native species during springtime planting. BOTTOM PHOTO: Missouri’s state tree, the flowering dogwood (pictured), is a great alternative to the Callery pear and produces similar white blooms in the spring.

[fishinwrench]

Blame the Boy Scouts of America, and the MDC.

In the 1970's they had us planting Bradford Pear trees all over the place in Boone, Callaway, Audrain, Montgomery counties......WITH THE HELP AND GUIDANCE OF THE MISSOURI DEPT.OF CONSERVATION !    😂  Big MDC dump trucks and trailers just loaded with them.....and all of us Boy Scouts with shovels and rakes, and blisters on our hands.   

So typical !     🙄 

Seriously, how many times have the MDC biologists CHANGED THEIR MINDS and declared war on a species that THEY once introduced?    How many times?   🤔 

I want y'all to remember all of my rants when they FINALLY decide to declare war on Hybrid Striped Bass.   Just remember that Wrench said so!    😉

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Blame the Boy Scouts of America, and the MDC.

In the 1970's they had us planting Bradford Pear trees all over the place in Boone, Callaway, Audrain, Montgomery counties......WITH THE HELP AND GUIDANCE OF THE MISSOURI DEPT.OF CONSERVATION !    😂  Big MDC dump trucks and trailers just loaded with them.....and all of us Boy Scouts with shovels and rakes, and blisters on our hands.   

So typical !     🙄 

Seriously, how many times have the MDC biologists CHANGED THEIR MINDS and declared war on a species that THEY once introduced?    How many times?   🤔 

I want y'all to remember all of my rants when they FINALLY decide to declare war on Hybrid Striped Bass.   Just remember that Wrench said so!    😉

               The Autum Olive comes to mind, and I planted those from the state nursery when they were selling those. 

   Now get those Hybrid Striped Bass out of your noggin. I have yet to catch one of your Mutts. I think you have too much carb cleaner in your system.:) 

[tjm]

But the stupidest  thing is that you can still buy those pear trees legally and keep planting them.

The trees MDC and others were planting 50 years ago were   sterile and probably would have died out by now if all the sterile stock had been from the same source, but, different suppliers used different strains and if  you had one variety of non-seeding tree but your neighbor had a different variety they were able to cross pollinate and create monster hybrids.  Something that no one foresaw.

Another invasive tree  that is so common now that most don't know it isn't native is Mimosa, they are a little less visible because in the summer when they bloom other trees hide them by being leaved.

I suspect that the Callery pear has already become so naturalized that any effort to eradicate them is wasted. I rode up to Clinton with our son for the fly tying show last week and there were a couple of places where it looked like a 1/4 section had been sown with the trees, almost solid white. They are thick  all along the interstate between Ar. and Joplin.

And I have Sericea taking over most all the cleared land thanks to MODOT planting the ROWs way back when. I don't think anything eats it and nothing seems to get rid of it. 

[fishinwrench]

36 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

I have yet to catch one of your Mutts

BS!   In the places you fish most.... it's more likely that you haven't caught a pure White bass.   I don't think you're paying close enough attention.   

[tjm]

oughta be a Federal law against stocking of fish or wildlife, and I say Federal because this is an area where the states have already proven they  are incompetent. Should also prohibit selling animals as pets that can be released accidentally into the wild when the owner gets tired of them. If you want a pet fish or tiger, get a stuffed one. Wanna, catch a non-native fish, pack up and go where they live.  If the bass can't reproduce fast enough to support 10000 tournaments, stop the tournaments, put those games on a VR app and let the competition take place by phone.  

Wrench it's too late now to ever breed the hybrid completely out of those whiter-wipers, like the pears and mimosas they are here to stay. with each generation they may become less hybrid like, or the striper genes may become more dominate, but they won't ever be pure again. 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

 

Wrench it's too late now to ever breed the hybrid completely out of those whiter-wipers, like the pears and mimosas they are here to stay. with each generation they may become less hybrid like, or the striper genes may become more dominate, but they won't ever be pure again. 

That's my fear.   Pure Whites are a really hearty species.   Hybrids, stripers, and these mutts will die from over exertion, or have a heart attack and go belly-up 5-10 minutes after you release them.   

You definitely can't balloon one of them and expect it to return to the school..... it'll croak before it ever relocates them.    You can balloon pure Whites all day long, never a problem.    

[Flysmallie]

2 hours ago, tjm said:

But the stupidest  thing is that you can still buy those pear trees legally and keep planting them.

 

Yep. If they are so concerned they should start at the source. 

[BilletHead]

2 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

BS!   In the places you fish most.... it's more likely that you haven't caught a pure White bass.   I don't think you're paying close enough attention.   

            Interesting that Stockton was impounded in 1969. Hybrids started being stocked first in 2014 in Northwest Missouri Lakes. Just when in your conspiracy theories did that get contaminated with mutts?  I fish there often but hey I have no idea whether they are pure or not?  

[Flysmallie]

3 hours ago, BilletHead said:

  I have yet to catch one of your Mutts. 

I can’t say that I haven’t caught one, but I can 100% say that I haven’t cared. But if one of the ways to tell is that they die easily, then I have 100% for sure never put one on a stringer. 
 

Like a lot of things up there, I think the problem is confined to LOZ.