Planting an Ancestor Garden.

A reprint from our newsletter. Sign up at the bottom of the Generation Maps Main Page.

I went out this week and gathered several vases full of lilacs to fill my house and office. My maternal grandmother Eila Dana loved lilacs and thus they are one of my favorite flowers too. With the smell all around me and everytime I look over at the bouquet on my desk, I remember her fondly. (That is her on the left).

We have planted all kinds of other plants in honor of our ancestors too. Some of them include:

• Tomatoes--for my Dad who loves fresh tomatoes from the garden.
• Beets--for my Grandfather Carpenter who helped prisoners of war weed beets during World War II
• Begonias--for my Grandfather Dana who always had beautiful begonias on his deck.
• Lilacs--for Grandma Dana of course.
• Tiger Lillies-- for Kim's Grandmother Anderson who had big clumps of them in front of her house.
• Impatiens--for Kim's mother who had them all over her front yard.
• Crocuses--for my Mother who got all excited that spring was coming when they would peek through the snow.
• Roses--for my Grandmother Hortense Carpenter who helped me make potpurri with rose petals from her garden when I was a child.
• Hollyhocks--from my Great great Grandmother Schwendiman's house where they posed for many pictures. (That's her in the picture right under the arch with her mother Great great great Grandmother Williams)

What plants run in your family? Plant a few this spring in their honor. Maybe even get some plant markers to show off who you are honoring. And then share them with your descendants. Happy spring!