A Callery pear tree was planted by the World Trade Centre in the 1970’s. On 11th of September 2001, as the Twin Towers collapsed, it was smashed, burned and covered in debris. The remains, with broken and torn branches and roots, were recovered in October and transported to the New York Parks Department’s nursery in the Bronx. The tree measured a mere 8 feet in height.

After some nine years of nurture, the Callery pear, now 30 feet high, was returned to Ground Zero on 21st December 2010. Today it is a beautiful tree, spectacular in flower, a fitting memorial to survival, resilience and rebirth.