This photograph, taken about a week ago, is of my favorite tree, an apricot. It doesn't have a great shape---too much storm damage and amateur pruning over the years--- nor does it provide a great fruit crop---too many late spring freezes. But it does have a lot of sentimental value.
About 18 years ago my daughter and I took a "girls only" drive down to southwestern Colorado to visit my mother and grandmother. My grandmother had a fabulous garden - everything from perennials to numerous fruit trees (apricots in particular) and vegetables. She gardened on about 3/4 of an acre in a small rural town and she loved to experiment. Although she'd had a career in high fashion, she had since become a town character with her hair always done up in an enormous French twist and her daily gardening uniform of blue Lee overalls and canvas Keds sneakers. Anyway, this particular visit was in early Spring, and my grandmother convinced me that I had to take home one of her apricot tree seedlings. She had a habit of tossing her fruit pits out the back kitchen door and into her rose garden for the birds and squirrels to eat. Ocasionally, some of those seeds actually germinated and grew, and she would give them to friends or transplant them to other locations on her property. I decided that a 4 foot whip could easily fit in the back seat of my little Mazda, so why not? Wanting to impress my grandmother, I quickly balled and burlapped (or sheeted, more precisely) the little tree---the only time, before or since, that I've actually done that!
Well, as the photo shows, Grandmother's apricot has done quite well here. It remains a joy to behold throughout the seasons, and is a wonderful reminder of one of my all time favorite people.
Please share the stories of your favorite plants here, too.
garden share bristol. Powered by Blogger.
