Front Yard Flowering Pear Tree Budding And Potentially On Path to Growth - February 2022

Day three of the front-yard tree buds in Winter - first with the Saucer Magnolia fuzzy flower buds and then yesterday with the Red Fox Katsura.   Today, is the Chanticleer Pear flowering tree that is in the 'in between two driveways' island and planted pretty close to the Katsura.  This was a replacement tree that was planted in 2018 after our first one died.  This one STRUGGLED.  By October of 2018 (four months after planting), it was in bad shape.  Turns out, it was planted in a 'clay bowl' and the roots were drowning in what is called the 'bathtub effect' where water had no where to go.  

It seemed to continue to decline in 2019 - but by Spring 2020, I was seeing the very FIRST flower buds.  Not everywhere.  But, some flowers.  

Then, last Spring - 2021 - we seemed to have a big part of the tree that had died back.  And a bunch of the tree that looked to be back on track - and flowering.    I ended up cutting off all the dead stuff and created a pretty lopsided tree.  But one that was alive and happy.  Last Summer, the tree put on some new growth - still lopsided - but new growth none-the-less.

Which leads me to today:  the tree is full of buds on the tips.  Here's one below:

What does the overall tree look like? Lots of young, limbs reaching for the sky.  Where is the leader?  I'm not sure yet.  But, that's a 2022 task, I think.  Here's the current state below: