Hmmm... I would say the best alternative is Serviceberry (Amelanchier). I would go with either A. Laevis (Allegheny - My first choice) or A. Arborea (Downy - Not bad, but with slightly less palatable fruit). And then there's the hybrid between the two, Amelanchier x grandiflora (Apple serviceberry). The cultivar "Autumn Brilliance" is a good representative of this hybrid.

Serviceberries offer good, clean white flowers in the Spring, followed by a large crop of tasty fruit in early Summer (Hence one of the common names "Juneberry"). Of course, this is disadvantageous if you are planting near a patio - The blue fruits are highly pigmented, resulting in unsightly stains on anything under them. Allegheny serviceberry is the worst for this, since it has dark blue fruits. Downy serviceberry and most of the apple serviceberries have more reddish fruit, so they don't stain as bad.

Most serviceberries offer a good fall color, presuming they are not plagued by rust in the Summer. All of my serviceberries turn beautiful in the fall, even with some leaf blight.

Anyways, there's my essay touting Serviceberry as a viable alternative to Bradford Pear - Others will have more suggestions, I'm sure.

Good Luck!

Jimmy

This post was edited by jimbobfeeny on Thu, May 9, 13 at 21:32

Thanks Jimmy. Our son was given a sappling Allegheny Serviceberry. It is potted now and got the first couple leaves a day or so ago. Obviously this will take a little while to be of a useful size, but we are looking forward to it.

Any of the billion crab apples have to be a choice.

There are so many alternatives that I'm going to have a hard time keeping it short.

Maackia. flowers white in mid to late summer, some interest in bark.

Lilac. current popular varieties include a version of the Japanese tree lilac, white flowers in mid-late spring, but see if you can find some of the richly exfoliating bark varieties of Pekin Tree lilac.

Maple. Numerous choices. Bark color, spring flush, summer leave color, fall color. There are so many to choose from, it would take a book to list them all. Tops on the short list: Paperbark, three flowered (select for fall color), A. pseudosieboldianum.

If fall color is of paramount concern, consider Cotinus obovatus. Even with sunglasses, it's a stunner.

Stewartia. flowers pretty much the month of june, fall color, bark.

Magnolia. Although lacking in the department of fall color, when in bloom, there is little to compare with a magnolia.

the aforementioned crabapple. Again, there's a book. look for varieties with high disease resistance and persistence.

dogwood. Again, there's a book.

redbud.

There are so many choices, it's impossible to list them all. And some people have their own favorites...so go find yours.

Hawthorn (Crataegus) is another choice. I do like Serviceberry though.

Gotta bookmark this one :)

Serviceberries can be remarkably fast-growing - I've got a 3 year old seedling that pushed out a cluster of flowers this spring (no fertilizer).

American mountain-ash is another somewhat interesting small flowering tree, but it is somewhat prone to disease and insect infestations this far South. The bright red clusters of fruits are quite pretty! You could also try European mountain-ash, which is a little more adaptable