7 Comments

Beautiful. I alternate between real gardener and princess gardener. At our ages, my husband and I also go for the larger plants because, as he says, he wants to enjoy them before he’s gone. :-) what a wonderful way to honor both parents—this essay and the trees!

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Thank you for these beautiful stories. They make me happy and remind me of my dad planting at our Seattle house. It is wonderful to think of the lifetime of a tree and how it sustains us and outlasts us.

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So relatable. My late mother always gave a lilac tree as a "housewarming" present to new owners and everywhere I go, I plant a lilac. I have one here, in zone 10. It has no business being here, but it thrives, and so does the memory of my mother who's been gone since 1986. Thanks for this lovely piece.

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Nice memories

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As always, a beautiful, emotion-evoking piece, Jen. It soaked straight into my heart and immediately illustrated the deep connection of you to your mom and dad. The trees sound perfect, the birds nesting, the colors of the leaves, the environmental pluses that you and Amy are adding to the land, but more than anything, this makes me wish I could have seen your world growing up, experiencing first hand the dance of your family. ("Humphrey!" Ha!) I think those birds are your parents settling into your land with you and Amy. Thank you for bringing tears in my eyes.

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Lovely lovely stories. Thank you

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Interesting horticulture journey. The tree in the Catskills looks marvelous! Planting a tree that mature takes a lot of work! Good for Lou and Dave for coming through with the equipment. Your folks would love it. Enjoy.

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