Our Flowering Almond is tucked into the scrubby undergrowth on our hillside. I first noticed the petals among the pine needles. I looked up and it’s beauty stopped me. The simple pink blossom deserved a moment of admiration.
Flowering Almonds are not native to Appalachia. They are from northern China and Japan. Thankfully. they aren’t invasive. The plant is considered old-fashioned. If you do find some, they’re rarely the modest single blooms, like the one tucked into our hillside. Flowering Almonds were at the height of their popularity in the mid-1800s, a prized landscape addition. A little behind the times, our little forgotten tree has been around at least 50 years, maybe longer.
In our family, Flowering Almonds are tied to Great-Grandpa Hill. Frank West Hill was a very tall and gangly man. He scraped by on 10 acres . . . some flat, some not . . . in Washington County, Ohio. He was widowed young and raised two families. In later life he took in his daughter and children, maintained the local cemetery, and kept scraping by. But he had a line of glorious Flowering Almonds at his place.
Survival is hard. I’ve had my time in that place. The work is never ending. There’s only time to turn around and start again.The world grows dim. There’s barely energy to fall in bed. But somehow, in Grandpa Frank’s world, there was time to plant and care for Flowering Almonds.
Flowering Almonds are a short-lived beauty, just one to two weeks in the spring.. Sometimes they’ll have a small red fruit that squirrels love, but they serve no other purpose. Nowadays we want four-season beauty in our landscaping or we don’t even bother.
Why take the time to plant and care for something so useless? Did it feed anybody, give a cash crop?
No. It was just…pretty. Downright beautiful. Glorious.
So much so that my Grandmother told of those flowering almonds eighty years later.
So much so that we continue to tell each other the story of Grandpa Hill’s flowering almonds.
One to two weeks of annual beauty can feed the soul for generations.
A Friendly Favor . . .
If you liked this story, would you spread the word? Pin this image or share using the icons below. This helps me share stories of Appalachia. I thank ye kindly.
