The Traveling Weigela

A Weigela with a very special story:

We had a spectacularly beautiful Weigela tree. In three of our gardens! It began life as an Oldfashioned Weigela shrub but my friend Theresa’s dad grafted it onto a sapling and created a Standard Weigela for me. We had it in the gardens of three homes – first Baltimore, then we moved it to Peterborough, then we moved it to Cobourg. It not only survived all three moves, but positively flourished at each location, producing masses of dainty pink “trumpet” blossoms each year. We loved it and the bees loved it too. It was a housewarming gift from the heart, one that will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

The Traveling Weigela

For Theresa — A keepsake of her father’s genius,
and the beautiful Standard Weigela he crafted for us.

A common shrub of simple grace
Began its life in a quiet place,
Until a father’s clever hand
Reshaped the way it met the land.
Theresa’s dad, with gentle skill,
Grafted that stem to suit his will;
Upon a sapling firm and high,
He raised its branches to the sky,
Creating for our garden view
A standard tree, a gift from you.

From Baltimore’s warm, sunny ground,
A beautiful new home it found.
Then northward bound to Peterborough’s soil,
It weathered all the move and toil.
And finally, to Cobourg’s shore,
It packed its roots and moved once more.
Three different homes, three shifts of earth,
Yet every spring it proved its worth.
It didn’t just survive the ride—
It flourished there with quiet pride.

Each May and June, its branches bend
With trumpet blossoms without end.
A sea of dainty, soft pink flowers
That cheered our hearts for endless hours.
The bumblebees would buzz and stay,
And drink its sweetness through the day,
Enchanted by the brilliant crown
That Theresa’s father handed down.

So in my journal, this will stay,
To look back on a brighter day.
A keepsake of a special tree,
And of the man who made it free
To rise above its humble start
And blossom straight into my heart.

’Til next time, y’all…