Sumter County Clemson Extension

Many of you may have been seeing dieback in your callery (think Bradford) pears this spring as shown in the photos. In fact, it has been so widespread in the Midlands that you can pretty reliably identify callery pears at highways speeds. This is fire blight, one of the most destructive bacterial infections of apple, pear and other species in the rose family. The fact sheet below gives an extensive look at this disease.

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/fire-blight-of-fruit-trees/

If that weren't enough, you may also be seeing orange tentacles growing on the small developing callery pear fruit. This is likely quince rust, but testing would be needed to confirm. It is destructive in apple and pear as well. However, in callery pear it is doing us a favor by destroying fruit and reducing seed set. If you needed one more reason to get rid of the callery pear trees on your property, well, that's two.

Remember to mark your calendar for dates for spring pear bounty events to get yourself a free, new tree in exchange for cutting down your callery pear.

https://www.clemson.edu/extension/bradford-pear/

On Friday, we will officially be a drop-off depot for Mother's Milk Bank! Join us as we celebrate a new resource for families in Sumter County and help provide life-saving donor milk to babies in need.