In his lecture at the Georgia Perennial Plant Association meeting last week, Jason Powell, from Petals From the Past nursery in Alabama, hit directly on a subject that had been on my mind recently — that of keeping memories alive through your garden.

He gave examples of how many people will refer to a rose by, say, "Miss Evelyn Parks," rather than the real name of the rose (even if they know it), because it was Miss Evelyn who had given them the plant.

see caption (ENLARGE)

Ninebark: This U. S. native now comes in a deep burgundy color with light pink flowers. It is all the rage in the garden world.

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

Rooted in memories: Martha Tate calls her Phlox divaricata (left) from the late Miss Willie Johnston /'Miss Willie's Phlox./'

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

This naked lady (center) is from Tate's great-grandparents' home.

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

Another gardener, Margaret Moseley, treasures her grandmother's rose.

RELATED [an error occurred while processing this directive]

So many of us have flowers in our yards that recall a living friend or one who has passed away. Many of these plants you can buy on your own, but the fact that a special flower was given to you by a loved one is very meaningful.

Almost 50 years ago, my mother planted a peony at the end of a row of shrubs in front of her house. The plant was given to her by a Mrs. Thomason, an elderly friend who was always generous with flowers from her garden.

Every spring, it was a thrill to walk around the house to see Mrs. Thomason's peony in full bloom. The flowers were spectacular — big, tissue paper blooms of the purest white, marked with blotches of red. And the fragrance. A whole bouquet of them in the house would make you swoon.

Then, the peony, which was probably 'Festiva Maxima' (ca. 1851), took a hit in the summer of 2002. Some wonderful people from Mother's church came and cleaned out a lot of tangled growth near where the peony was planted. The area was sprayed, and the peony and about everything else disappeared or turned gray. I didn't tell Mother.

Two years later, I walked around to the front of the house, and there was the peony in bloom. The flower, which had originally come from Mrs. Thomason's own mother and was at least 100 years old, had made a miraculous comeback.

Earlier this year, I went out to mark the peony, so nothing would happen again. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was crestfallen.

Then, the last week of April, I went back to look one more time. There it was, with weak foliage, and one big, fat bud, peaking out from under a Burford holly that had grown over the plant. I vowed to come back the next week and clean the holly and briars away so I could move it in the fall.

I came back to move it the next week, but it was too late. The nicest young man had agreed to cut Mother's grass and do some extra weed eating. He could never have known. The foliage of the peony lay shriveled on the ground, and a bit of stiff, stubby green about an inch high remained. I grabbed a shovel and began digging, with my head stuck painfully in the thick holly bush.

Long story short, I dug as much of the peony as I could and brought it to my house and planted it in four sections (it had all fallen apart as the ground was so dry and I had dug so frantically).

I am happy to report that two of the pieces are showing little sprouts of green. Another piece I thought was growing turned out to be the fierce, thick green briar that had been next to it. It may take a while, but I think "Mrs. Thomason" will one day be back to her former glory.

Many of you have had similar experiences, I am sure. This story, I hope, will inspire you to share your plants with others and also to be a steward of any plant that is passed along to you. It's a great way to expand your garden and a way to honor and memorialize some very special people.

Examples from other gardeners:

• Margaret Moseley will be 91 on Monday, and one of her most treasured flowers is her grandmother's rose. Many rose experts have been unsuccessful in identifying the light pink, very fragrant flower. All signs point to its being some sort of tea rose, maybe even an early hybrid tea (it blooms great in spring, sporadically during the summer and again heavily in fall). She got one 7-inch cutting from her aunt in the 1960s. It was September (the best time to root roses and move peonies), and she stuck the stem in the ground by a water faucet. By the next spring, it had a bud. She's given dozens of the easy-to-root rose away through the years.

• Bob Clinard called me recently to come over and see his sunny garden off LaVista Road. There, he showed me the wonderful pink-purple verbena from his great-aunt's home, and the multicolored larkspur from a gentleman who had lived across the street but who had passed away several years ago.

• My cousin Anne Williams of Stockbridge has our great-grandmother's naked ladies, which came from near Roscoe. We dug the bulbs when the antebellum house was sold well over a decade ago. Every July, the pink, lilylike flowers pop up out of the ground.

Easy to grow and share:

• Gardenias will root in water and can then be transferred directly into the ground.

• Hydrangeas can be easily propagated by layering. Take a lower branch, scratch off some of the green bark, make a slight dent in the soil and place the stem in the ground and secure it with a brick. After the roots form, cut the new plant away from the mother.

• Azaleas can be layered in the same manner as above. I have a 'Pride of Mobile' from Bill Savell's beloved sister-in-law who died recently.

• Gather the seeds of cool season annuals — poppies, bachelor's buttons, larkspur and ox-eye daisies — in June and plant them in fall in newly prepared ground.

MARTHA'S PICK

Ninebark

Botanical name: Physocarpus 'Monlo' (also sold as 'Diablo')
About the plant: A wonderful U.S. native that is all the rage in the garden world now. Actually, it's an old-fashioned plant with a new twist. Dark maroon foliage appears on arching branches, with contrasting light pink spirealike flowers in April and May. Grows 6 to 8 feet with a wide spread. Deciduous.
Use in the garden: Great contrast plant against lime green or dark green. Dark maroon color stands out just by itself.
Planting and care: For best color, plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Can be cut to ground in late winter to renew dark foliage.
Source: Perennial Grace Nursery, 14395 Birmingham Highway, Alpharetta, GA 30004; 770-569-5448.