Arbor Day, observed in the U. S. on the last Friday of April, is a traditional time to plant trees. Trees in the home landscape provide physical structure and memories.
Arbor Day, founded in 1885, was the idea of J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, NE. Planting trees, Morton believed, made our earth homes similar to the ways poets and other writers described "the Home in Heaven."
Every year, but not necessarily on Arbor Day, my husband and I add new trees and shrubs to our yard. We choose plants that complement the existing design and help to mold new areas. Most of all, our tradition honors friends and
commemorates special times. In 2002, I wrote about the beginnings of this strategy in Trees: The Gift of Love.
In the past four years, we have had many reasons to add plants that strengthen treasured memories as well as create a starting point for new ones. Certainly, the most exciting events were the four additional grandchildren born into the family: a girl in 2002, a boy in 2003, and a boy and girl in 2005.
In 2001, we had planted a seven-son-flower tree, Heptacodium miconioides, at the west end of a shrub and perennial border to honor the birth of our first grandchild - a boy; we planted another, at the east end of this border, to honor the birth of his younger brother in 2003.
Heptacodium miconioides, seven-son-flower tree:
- is native to China;
- grows well in our New England climate;
- puts up with a wide range of soils;
- has little to no serious disease or insect problems and
- demands little maintenance beyond routine pruning.
Although I do not know why Heptacodium miconioides is called the seven-son-flower tree, I do know it is an unusual and powerful addition to our surroundings. The seven-son-flower tree:
- may grow as a multi-stem tree as high as 20 feet, but I have chosen to keep only one main stem;
- produces amazing flowers in August when few trees bloom. They are white, long lasting and fragrant. Pink calyxes (outer parts of the flowers) become visible as flowers fade. Reddish-purple fruit emerge and last through the fall.
- furnishes a winter bonus of peeling golden-brown bark that is a surprise against the winter snow and intensifies as the tree becomes older.
More about tree choices that commemorate my granchildren's births is found in Trees: Gift of Love - III. Information about selecting a tree for celebration or remembrance, or donating to a nature or garden charity can be found in Trees and Love: Sources.
©
Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage, April 2006. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
