One summer day at work, I was told about a crabapple tree that was going to be thrown into the compost because the top had been broken so it wasn’t able to be used for our customer. I asked if I could have it? It was a nice tree and with some care it would likely be just fine. So I brought it home and planted this little crabapple in a perfect spot for us to enjoy. With a little trimming that winter, this new crabapple would be ready to grow into a healthy tree for years to come.

The next spring it leafed out with a few blossoms, but spent more of it’s energy into growing and recovering from being planted. While it was only seven feet tall, we were just excited it survived the winter and was full of leaves. Just keep growing little tree!

When spring arrived the next year, our little crabapple had lots of beautiful, fragrant flowers bringing smiles to our faces. Over the summer, a change for our family would be made. We had decided to move into a different house to fit the needs of our family. One of the hardest parts of that decision was leaving this tree behind. I convinced my wife we could transplant this tree as long as we did it once the leaves had dropped for the season. It had become a healthy and vigorous little tree in a short time and would very likely be able to handle the trauma of being uprooted and replanted. So that’s what we did. That fall, just before this house was sold, a friend came over and we dug this tree out and replanted it at our new house.

The next spring it leafed out once again and began growing. Releaf! Over the next few years our little crabapple had adapted to these new surroundings, continued to grow and provide amazing beauty and fragrance each spring. We couldn’t believe how much it grew each year. Some of those years were cool and wet while others were hot and dry. Yet this tree just kept growing.

Some years there weren’t many blooms to fill the air with its calming aroma, but we enjoyed it still. Our little tree had some challenges during these years but continued to grow and flourish into a mature tree. This spring it put on such an amazing show as it has become a full sized tree reaching over thirty feet in height. We could never have imagined what it would become over almost 20 years its been in our lives. What a special gift for us!