Heirloom Trees

I love heirloom plants and while hunting in the heirloom threads, I found this.

http://www.historictrees.org/index.html

Some pretty interesting stories. Anybody know of this site or bought from them before? Wonder how they got trees from so many locations. I was thinking about getting a couple for the novelty of it. Would I be foolish?

It might be fun.. The trail of tears trees just are begging me to live here... but I have your questions too - how do they or do they really have the seedlings from these trees? Would the white house and other landmarks really let them?

Ya the Trail Of Tears would be nice. Read that one first. Thought it would go good since I have some of the orginal Trail Of Tears Iris that has been passed down from Mother to Daughter through the generations. I ha d to do soe moving of beds and moved them with a few other Iris and I knew which wa s which but then had some help moving them to new location and now I have to wait until they bloom to mark them again and send soem off to othe r Native American heritage places. Sending some of them back home , kind a like full circle.

So I would kind a like to make sure they authentic before I put them together.

I wondered did they collect the nuts and seds from the trees. Surely they couldn't have gotten that many cuttings could they have?

Trail of Tears - My family was on that - both mine and my wifes...

What are the Iris? I would love to know more about them .. I know I have seen so many things out there that are rip offs - I really would want to know that they are the real thing.

American Forests is an upstanding organization. They document and publish the national champion tree list for the United States. I wouldn't doubt that they are able to solicit or collect seeds and/or cuttings to propagate these historic trees. They would only need enough cuttings to start an "orchard" of the historic plants. They wouldn't have to take new cuttings from the original tree every year.

My only recommendation to those who are thinking of procuring plants like this for use in their area: investigate what species are well-adapted to your area or you are throwing your money away and/or are destined for disappointment. A grounds manager for the local school system thought it would be a great learning experience for school kids to have plantings of these historic trees at every school. Unfortunately, he didn't take into account where these trees originated or what appropriate growing conditions would be. He simply ordered a lot of everything and planted willy-nilly. His heart was in the right place, but a bit misguided horticulturally. Many of these trees simply died because they didn't belong here. Maybe the kids learned that lesson, too, but I doubt it.

I think I'll get Lucky a Christmas present; who wouldn't want an Elvis Presley sweetgum?

Thanks V V - good to know... now I have to spend a lot more money. . . . Trees .. I hope I can find a few that would love to live here...

Mitch

There is a pretty good book by the guy that owns that nursery I believe. It is America's Famous and Historic Trees by Jeffrey G. Meyer which gives a pretty good background on the different trees and how he/they rescued or propagated them.

Willis

I remember at one time the state of Maryland was selling seedlings of the Wye Oak. I'd like to get my hands on one of those.

There's a couple or three Quercus alba almost as big as the Wye Oak, maybe a mile down the road from where it stood. I'm a little surprised that historic trees.org doesn't have them.

Ya thanks VV.. I shouldn't have any problem with the Water Oak, or Red Bud. Know they wil do well here. Not sure about The Johnny Apple seed tree though. That another one I wanted.

When I lived in Ohio we used to go to an apple orchard as kids that he went through and when I lived in Indiana went to his grave. Think it woudl be neat to have a piece of that history here. Have to find out what kinda soil and requirements an apple tree needs. I know crabapples grow here, but don't know of anybody who has eating apples.

Thanks for the info on the book Willis. I will have to see if I can find it to read. Sound s like some good reading for the winter.

Mitch.... Here ya go. here the story that those of us who have it have for markers and the pic.

"A young Cherokee Indian couple, the Hillhouse
family, left Georgia on their journey to the designated
Indian Territory with a bag of money from the US
government purchase of their land, a rifle, a blanket
in which to wrap their possessions, two babes in
arms, and a toddler at hand.

One of the possessions carried was a start of a white iris.
Along the way, the money was viewed as a burden to
carry, so was buried. In north Arkansas, seeking
food, a bear was shot and wounded. The wounded
bear made its way to a cavern where Mr. Hillhouse
finished it off. Mr. Hillhouse decided the cavern
would provide shelter for winter so the young couple
and their young family did not continue their journey
to the Indian Territory.

This story was passed down to family decendents by
the family member who was the toddler at hand.
Terry Hillhouse of Hurst, Texas has shared a
division of the iris with her cousin, Judy Ann Jantz of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who has, in turn, shared
divisions with fellow gardeners and thus the journey
of this special iris continues and those of us who
grow it know it as The Trail Of Tears Iris."

JudyAnn's words from part of our thread.... A local horticulturalist has done a great deal of research and documentation on the daffodils that were brought to Oklahoma by the Cherokee Indians. She gave a program for our club last spring and told me she had heard of the white iris that was brought. She was thrilled to get on the list to receive some. I had to rescue them with hubby's help from a very invasive canna, which is history now! That's why I'm so late this fall getting them to Ella.

JudyAnn knows how much I cherish historics and trying to save bits and pices of history. She a great lady and a friend. I am honored that she shared with me. They just built a new National Historic building on the ground s where tribes gather every year a few mile s down the road from me. I go every year and as guest am invited into their friendship dances. They almost done, so this year I will present some as a gift to the Chief of the tribe to plant.

Last year I shared a piece with the wife of one of my mentors to plant whose wife is Cherokee and has 40 acreas where tribes still come with teepees and live year round.

Those of us who have it, as it increases are placing pieces of it back in historical sites and with those whose relatives were on that march and who have a love of history and preservation for plants and trees of the past.

Ok back to trees.

VV.... I saw that Elvis tree too and was excited til I saw what it was. Laughed my head off thinking about how well Sweetgum was loved here in these forums. heck everybody should have at least one Elvis tree. ROFLOL.

Wonderful Story - It is funny no matter how many times I hear T or T stories the money almost always got left behind, more anger at the government then anything else. Such a stunnign white Iris, I know where there are Daffs they brought with them on my acres in OK. I own the land my great great grandfather Andrew Jackson Fitzgerald lived on and built his home after the long trail I am not sure what else they brought with them but somewhere is a record I will look back up in the family.

Mitch

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/nursery/wyeoakdescendant.html

Starlight1153:

http://facstaff.hsc.unt.edu/rbarton/Iris/hexas/TofT.jpg

This is from the Iris forum, historic iris thread, Wandasflowers. She found that the Iris called Trail of Tears is a native Texas species, not the ones shown on the cover of the book above. What does the iris you have as "Trail of Tears" look like?

Thanks for that link Levilyla. When I get a chance gonna have to google more and find out about Wyle. Not familiar whith that history.

Gloria... The pic is at the bottom of the thread a couple above you. I had posted a couple of years back the story her e on Dave's when a few of us who have it were discussing it. I have seen that Iris you are talking about. Like Mitch there are alot of Iris out there being called The Trail Of Tears.

The other folks that have the one like mine are very reputable folks and so is the person and their history that we got it from and the family history. We know ours to be genuine.

As there were so many people forced to march that walk, I don't doubt that there was only one Indian family carrying their flowers with them. As Mitch so stated, money was useles s to them, nature was everything.

I imagine that there was several types of Iris that were carried and planted in different spots along the Trail. Iris, daffodils and other such plants. With family history, and family records and the passing with in generations. These other Trail of Tears could be legit too and at that time considering the circumstances going on everybody would have just named their flower Trail Of Tears knowing no other name at the time.

The site offering the historic trees. They have one listed, but I woudl just about bet that there are othe r Trail Of Tears trees out there too. We just don't know about them becaus e history records no longe r exist or family members or they haven't been discovere d yet, or they are known and being kept quite for preservation reasons which I don't blame them.

Folks go crazy sometime s with discoveries and in the process destroy so quickly what exsited hundreds of years so quietly and peacefully.

star - I could not have said it better, we still let them on our land to remember what happened, the family that was lost and the hope the flowers bring for the future. That would be my desire to have Iris, Red Bud, or any other plant from that scar in our history.