A couple of years ago I went to a funeral that had a fantastic idea - the owners of the funeral home actually planted a tree in memory of the person who had passed. As the city was quite large and the area quite flat, it was in need of open spaces and trees. That gave me an idea that although I already have lots of trees I did not have many flowering shrubs or showy trees. I tried to think of the person that I was dedicating it to and proceeded to plant shrubs and flowering trees in their memory. My mother was a gardener and spent many hours in her flower and vegetable gardens but also liked shrubs and trees. Her favorite tree was the willow. There is a wet sloping area at the base of a large rock in my yard that I had previously tried to grow an apple tree in but between the wet soil and the deer, it did not survive. However this willow has flourished and grows more beautiful every day. My mother would have loved it.
