YESTERDAY my free trees arrived from the Arbor Day Foundation. The package, a plastic bag about 2 ½ ft. long, I easily hand-carried home from the post office. Inside, the roots encased in hydrating gel, I found: 2 Sargent Crabapples (Malus sargentii), 2 Eastern Redbuds (Cercis Canadensis), 2 Washington Hawthornes (Crataegus phaenopyrum), 2 white flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida), 2 Goldenraintrees (Koelreuteria paniculata). They are all flowering trees. The package also included 2 fragrant Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris).
They are small twigs at this point, with roots. Not even a Ph.D (Piled Higher & Deeper) botanist could have guessed that the thing in the photo below is a Washington hawthorne that eventually should grow to 25’ to 30’.


They are, according to the accompanying letter from the Foundation’s Director of Procurement (sounds somewhat illegal, doesn’t it?), “guaranteed to grow.” Now, once before I did this, received my ten free trees, and planted them according to instructions. This was about 7 or 8 years ago. Two survived the first year. I think they are dogwoods. This spring they are flowering for the first time (at least one of them is; the 2nd one hasn’t reached that point yet; we’ll see).
So yesterday, after much thought as to exactly WHERE I wanted to place my new trees, I went about putting them in the ground. This morning I mulched them. I will water them with religious fervor (trees, books, and some foods are the only subjects to which I bring religious fervor). I can only hope that they all thrive.