I'm joining the blog carnival Favorite Plants hosted by "My Little Garden in Japan" for this post.
The challenge - to share your favorite plant.
For a plant lover,
choosing one favorite plant is, of course, impossible.
So, I'll highlight one of my many favorite plants,
the Japanese Maple.
While it's a wonderful tree,
there's a special reason for my choice,
but we'll get to that later.
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) is a beautiful group of trees -
many cultivars cover a range of sizes, leaf color and forms.
A variety can be found to fit most any scale landscape.
The pretty form, leaf texture and
spectacular fall foliage make them a great feature in the garden.
This cutleaf maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum)
has a spectacular sculptural form.
And now the reason for my choice.
This is my Burgundy Lace Japanese Maple, which was planted
in memory of my dear mother, who passed away in 2000.
How fitting that she be honored with a beautiful tree,
she who brought beauty to whatever she touched.
She created a lovely landscape at our home,
crafted its bounty into graceful arrangements and
recorded them in colorful watercolor paintings.
My mother passed on her love of beauty and flowers.
But she did so much more.
She spent her life serving her family with a quiet and gentle spirit.
She made our lives rich with love.
And so I choose the Japanese Maple to honor my mother -
a woman who excelled in all that really mattered in life.
