They're learning to withstand Reno's frigid temperatures without coats or companions. Their bare, anorexic skeletons sway easily in the wind as cars pass by on the street. But they're strong and content. In fact, they hardly ask for much except for some water and an occasional ray of sunlight.

New life was planted along C Street between Ninth and Tenth streets in front of the Sparks Tribune and the Silver Club on Friday. The Sparks Urban Forestry rooted 20 Chanticleer pear trees as part of the City of Sparks' Victorian District project.

Sparks Urban Forester Michael Kelly said the trees will "beautify" the area in the coming years.

"(Chanticleers) stay fairly compact and, in your lifetime and mine, will never get more than 25 feet tall," Kelly said.

But January is a chilly time for planting trees into the ground. It's actually less than ideal, Kelly said. Still, it needed to be done.

"They were part of a shipment that was supposed to come in May with red oaks," Kelly said, explaining that the batch arrived early. "If I had waited any longer to plant them, they would have been ruined.

The Chanticleer callery pear cultivar is typically resistant to limb breakage and fire blight. It was commonly found in Cleveland in the 1950s and first introduced to national nurseries in 1965. The trees maintain a straight, vertical figure and require minimum pruning. Displays of white flowers in the spring, bright green foliage in the summer and red, plum purple and yellow leaves make the Chanticleer a colorful addition to Sparks, Kelly said. They will reach full maturity in about 10 to 12 years.

Friday's planting was "as cold as humanly possible, down to about 17 degrees," Kelly said.

It took Kelly and a crew of seven two hours to plant all 20 trees.

Kelly said he can plant trees any time of the year, even if it means taking a jackhammer to the ground.

"We plant all the time, it doesn't matter what time of the year it is," Kelly said. "The trees are dormant, so it doesn't hurt them."

The shipment is part of a contract with the Trammel Crow condominium development. Kelly said he didn't know how much the city had paid for this batch.

The city receives the majority of its trees from Moana Nursery in Oregon. During the winter, if its arrivals are not planted fairly quickly, the root ball freezes up, diminishing the tree's chance for survival.

If homeowners wish to plant in the wintertime, Kelly said it's important to keep them wet by watering once a week, unless it rains or snows. He advises not to allow the roots to freeze after purchasing a tree.

When digging, planters should make sure the hole is shallow and two to three times the size of the root ball; also be sure to add water. Mulching the top once the tree has been placed also is key to keeping frost out.

Kelly said the Forestry Division oversees about 20,000 trees in the city, but it gets busy to take regular care of all of them, especially on a short budget this year.

"The (Parks and Recreation Department) got hit pretty hard," Kelly said.

Even so, the division is using GPS technology to inventory trees in the city limits. A computer program allows forestry workers to store and retrieve data on when the tree was planted, pruned, whether it's diseased and its value.

And it still has the resources to hold one of its biggest events of the year as April approaches. Although Arbor Day is honored on April 25, the City of Sparks begins its celebration two weeks prior. The division is planning to go to about 10 schools, give presentations to students and help them plant a tree on campus.

Kelly said he's getting the itch to go out and begin other projects in city but has to wait for warmer weather.

"I'm getting such cabin fever," Kelly said, laughing. "When it warms up, I get fired up. It warms up in the middle of February when it's a false spring - then it freezes again. It's kind of a pain."