The Ritson Pear Tree in the Henry House Gardens

Did you know that Durham Region’s only designated Heritage Trees are located in the Henry House Heritage Gardens?  Our gardens feature the Ritson Pear Trees.  John and Mary Ritson moved to Lot 9 on Concession 1 in the 1820s.  Mary was sent a pear from Boston, MA and subsequently planted its seeds on this lot. The tree grew successfully and was admired by many. In 1980 the tree was 165 years old and placed on the Ontario Honour Roll of Trees, but within the 1980s the tree became dangerous and was chopped down. Scions were grafted from the original and the Oshawa Community Museum managed to acquire two of these scions. They were planted in the Museum’s gardens in 2001 and continue to thrive there today.

Want to learn more about Heritage Trees? Join us on May 15th for our Monthly Speaker Series at the Oshawa Public Library, McLaughlin Branch at 7PM.  Our speaker is Edith George from Trees Ontario talking about the heritage trees in Ontario.