The memory makers

While working in a garden center I witnessed firsthand how the sight or smell of certain plants can instantly bring back a memory. A gentleman came in and wanted to buy a Night Blooming Jasmine plant. He explained that when he was a boy growing up in Georgia he often would spend the night at his grandparent’s home. As the night breeze floated though the window it carried with it the sweet fragrance of the Night Blooming Jasmine. It was such a pleasant memory of his childhood he wanted to plant some at his new home. 

Another day a woman came in with a plant she wanted to have identified. Her mother had moved to a nursing home. The house she had grown up in had sold. The woman hoped to dig up the plant before the new owners tore the old house down. However, she was too late. All she could salvage of the plant was a very stressed fragment of the original. We identified the plant as an older variety of the common Garden Phlox. We gave her instructions on how to nurse the plant back to health*. She returned sometime later with good news that the plant recovered. 

I have two special memories. The first is a purple lilac bush that grew in the backyard at my parent’s farm. The lilac was already a mature plant when my parents purchased their farm in 1962. That lilac never failed to bloom. I played for hours on the swing set nearby and the smell of that lilac was heaven on earth to me. The last time I was at the farm I dug a rooted sucker shoot from the base of the lilac bush. I placed it an 8 inch terra cota clay pot and planted pot and all into the ground. This kept it safe through several winters until I could move it to a permanent location. 

The second memory I have is of a plant commonly called “Snowball Bush.” It was by the front door of my grandparent’s home. The huge white blossoms of that shrub and the bright green foliage matched perfectly with the white siding and green trim of their house. To this day whenever I see that plant I remember the sweet faces of Grandma Carrie and Grandpa Chris.
What plant stirs up a memory for you? 

Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever”
How amazing and wonderful is our Almighty God. A simple plant can bring us so much joy in remembering a loved one. How much more should we rejoice in the creator of all things?
He never withers or fades. He never sleeps. He never forgets. He is always there. He always loves. 

*Simple homemade transplant shock recipe: Dissolve 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar in one quart of warm water. Let solution cool then water the newly planted plant with it. Repeat once a week for up to 3 weeks.