Last week, my column was devoted to the famous plants growing in
my garden. Namely, they are my Wrigley Field ivy and Candlestick
sod from the 49ers’ NFC championship game against Dallas in 1982.
But you can grow famous specimens, too, thanks to the American
Forest Historic Tree Program.
Last week, my column was devoted to the famous plants growing in my garden. Namely, they are my Wrigley Field ivy and Candlestick sod from the 49ers’ NFC championship game against Dallas in 1982. But you can grow famous specimens, too, thanks to the American Forest Historic Tree Program.
The American Forest Historic Tree Program was introduced more than 30 years ago as a way to focus people’s attention on our country’s future by planting trees connected to our history. All the trees sold through the program were propagated from direct descendants of trees that witnessed history.
Each year, seeds are collected from the George Washington tulip poplar at Mount Vernon. Apple buds are grafted from the last living tree planted by Johnny Appleseed. Even oaks and sycamores from Elvis Presley’s Graceland are offered.
The Famous and Historic Trees Project was founded by accident after nurseryman Jeff Meyer was picnicking in the shade of Florida’s Treaty Oak. When his toddler son picked up an acorn, Meyer decided to plant it in his backyard, and got the inspiration for the immensely popular project.
There are tree descendants from Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The white oak comes from Lincoln’s tomb, while there’s also a Gettysburg Address honeylocust and American sycamore. There’s a Charles Lindbergh red maple, an Amelia Earhart sugar maple, a Lewis and Clark cottonwood, etc. All trees can be viewed on the American Forests’ web site at: www.historictrees.org.
Cost for the famous trees are $35 plus shipping and handling. Each tree will be shipped during your best planting time. All purchases come with a one-year membership to American Forests.
As I mentioned in last week’s column about my famous plants, sometimes your most treasured garden specimens are free. After all, it’s not every person who could have ivy from Wrigley Field’s famous ivy-covered wall growing in their backyard. Or how about my Candlestick sod taken from the very end zone where wide receiver Dwight Clark caught Joe Montana’s pass that got the 49ers into their first Super Bowl?
Here’s your chance to have a living legacy of America. Famous American author Susan Fenimore Cooper once said, “Of the infinite variety of fruits which spring from the bosom of the earth, the trees of the wood are the greatest in dignity.”
