When my grandpa, who shared my love of gardening, died a few years ago, I felt a
giant void. He was always the first to read my gardening articles, wanted updates on what I had growing and asked my advice when his plants got an unusual pest or disease.

One January day, in between rains, I ventured out into the garden to do some pruning. With a heavy heart, I thought of my grandfather, and then I saw them. The jade plants he had given me as small cuttings several years before had grown to 4-feet high and were covered with white, starry blooms. Though jade is a simple plant, in the dim afternoon light it appeared majestic. Seeing those plants that came directly from my grandfather's green thumb gave me a sense of reassurance and peace. My grandpa may no longer be with me, but his plants are.

As living things, plants have a way of evoking strong memories for us, says Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee's Garden seeds (www.reneesgarden.com), which can be found in nurseries nationwide. "When we garden, we honor and perpetuate loved ones and friends. I carry a seed mix called Granny's Bouquet that
contains flowers my grandma used to grow."

With the thousands of plants available, the ones people truly treasure are those that connect them to someone else, or a memory of another time, says Brooke Taggart, owner of Plant'It Earth, a nursery in San Francisco. "A close family friend gave me a spider plant 12 years ago; the sight of it always makes me smile and think of him."

Mandy Stanley's home in Marietta, Ga., is full of pothos plants that came from a plant her husband brought to his first job out of college. "Steve calls the original pothos Mama Floyd because he used to listen to Pink Floyd while he was working and the plant just kept growing, so he gave away cuttings," says Stanley. "When we moved into our first apartment we didn't have a lot of money, but I wanted plants, so I took lots of cuttings from Mama Floyd. Today she sits in the foyer surrounded by several of her babies. When I see Mama Floyd and her offspring, I remember our early years together."

Elizabeth Fraser lost her grandmother 10 years ago, but it wasn't until just recently that the family sold her grandma's property in Oregon. While they were closing up the house, Fraser decided to dig up a rosebush and plant it in her own garden. "I wanted part of my grandmother with me," she says.

Propagating cuttings:

Getting plant cuttings to grow is easy. Some quick to root plants include geranium, fuchsia, lavender, hydrangea, lantana, pentas, rose, many herbs, salvia, petunia, succulents, plumeria, pothos, buddleia, ivies, dracaena, philodendron, bromeliads, bulbs and impatiens.

Follow these rooting guidelines:

• Take a cutting close to the ground and in the shade. These plant parts contain more growth hormone because they're trying harder to live. Or look for new tip growth. For plants like ground covers and grasses, remove a small amount of the plant and roots (a plug).

• Loosely wrap the cuttings and plugs in moist peat moss and plastic wrap or damp paper towels. Allow for good air circulation.

• Before planting, remove the plant's lower leaves and using a razor or sharp knife, cut the stem off at an angle below a leaf node (the bump left by a removed leaf). Stick in water for a couple of hours to rehydrate. Also remove any flowers, fruit or buds so that the cutting can put all of its energy into rooting.

• Fill a 4-inch container with 50 percent peat moss and 50 percent perlite. Dampen the mix. Create a hole for the cutting with a pencil. Roots come from the leaf nodes, so insert the cutting with at least one leaf node under the soil.

• Top the pot off with a plastic milk carton that has had its bottom cut out and the lid removed. Place in a warm area.

• Check periodically and water when necessary. After two weeks, gently move the cutting. Roots are forming if it seems secure. Pot up when the plant has developed a strong root system. Not every cutting will root. A 50 percent take is considered very good. _

*****
By: Julie Bawden Davis is an Orange, California-based freelance writer.
Copy from The Sunday Post, April 7, 2002

Wow! This story is so true to heart.

I remember when I took cuttings from my grandfathers plant, and how that plant would just grow and grow. Then I would take cuttings from my plant to make more. There was always green plants in my place that reminded me of him.

When I was in the hospital and had given birth to my daughter, my parents had given me this tiny plant. The furn may have been only 6 inches, but I took such good care of it. It was the one plant that would continue to grow as my daughter was growing up. No matter where we moved that plant came with us. My husband would make fun of it because it was so small and at times sad looking, but I didn't care, it was special to me. The day did come when my daughter turned into an adult and the little furn was no more.

Today I have a special pot of mixed plants, where I have a new furn that reminds me of my daughter and some of the plants that reminds me of my grandfather. So each morning when I get up and open the curtains to start my day I see my plants that put a smile on my face and warm my heart.