I have had the following question from reader Amanda:
I have a terminal illness and am funeral planning. I want to leave a tree as a memorial and would like one whose name suggests free spirit, fun etc. Also I'd like to leave room for a second one for when my husband joins me.
The question has left me scratching my head. I am certainly struggling to think of any names, so turned instead to symbolic meanings. However, those species that are considered memorial trees tend to have fairly heavy and morose symbolism attached, often based on Victorian symbolism, and that lot weren't exactly known for their love of fun and their open-mindedness. The nearest I found was juniper, which is associated with St Juniper, the saint of comedy (and also with gin, I suppose), but annoyingly also with chastity, which puts a bit of a dampener on things. This is part of the trouble: every tree seems to be inlaid with layer upon layer of meanings.
So keeping the 'fun and free spirit' brief firmly in mind, I wonder if any of you have any ideas? I think if I was to choose a tree for my own memorial, it would be an apple tree, partly because I just love them, but also because I have read that the blossom appearing on bare branches is symbolic of renewal and the circle of life.
Do you know of any suitably named or symbolic trees? And even if not, what would you choose as your memorial tree?
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