Plant me a story

I read the most interesting article by AP reporter Melissa Kossler Dutton in my Sunday paper about botanical legacies. Yep, you read that right. The title of the article is "Heirloom plants propagate memories." (Someone on the copy desk had a pun time writing that headline!) Dutton recounts people's experience of receiving transplants of a flower, bush, plant, tree from a relative.

She writes:

Every spring Mike Milton receives a joyful reminder of his grandmother. The bright yellow blooms on the flowering bush transplanted from her yard in southeast Louisiana reawaken memories of the lessons and values she instilled in him.

"I can't look at it without thinking of family members and stories," Milton, a Presbyterian minister in Chattanooga, TN, said.

This is not something new. There are family stories about relatives who sewed seeds into the hem of a dress or shirt and brought the seeds with them when they immigrated to America. When they arrived to their new home, they opened the seam, recovered the seeds and planted them. Dave Whitinger, who runs a garden website says the seeds from descendents of some of those plants are still in use today. His website is a forum where gardeners who have an interest in these types of plants can swap growing tips.

What a wonderful "earthy memento" -- bringing something from your old home to your new home--or giving a newley married couple who is leaving home to begin a home together.

A true reminder of one's roots.