My Elder Tree.

This story was also inspired by a prompt from Soul Food Cafe.

http://dailywriting.net/SeedWeb.htm

 

My Elder Tree
by Teresa Seed

My Elder Tree stands in my herb garden near my iron gate. It is shaped like a standard so as not to take over the small lot it resides in. When it blossoms large heads of creamy, small flowers creates an image like an overgrown iceburg rose standard. It is a wonderous sight to behold and it is very hard to describe its beauty fully.

The small flowers can be used to make elderflower tea, wine, a toner for the skin, decoration and it has many more uses too. The flowers later turn into small, black berries, which can be used to darken hair, put in jams and pies etc. If not used, these berries drop off the tree and feed the soil nourishing nutrients.

It can be also used in the compost heap to speed up the decomposing process, as can yarrow. The large flower heads resemble yarrow. It is said if you have an Elder tree in your garden, witches cannot trouble you for they will get caught in its branches and not be able to enter your house. So in this light it can be considered a protection tree.

It has healing qualities for when we are sick, it is an aid to beauty, it has healing protective qualities, as well as legendary protection from witches, it has nourishing qualities and is beautiful to see.

I feel it is one of the most useful trees we have and is a gift to us mere mortals – as is all the herbs of the earth. It is a tree of life-giving qualities.

Although it is getting to big for its home lot, I cannot bring myself to remove it or cut it down. I prune it often to keep it in shape and it grows more tree’s from the roots, this shows how much it wants to be of service to humankind. Soon I will have to grow a cutting or root offshoot and remove my beautiful tree. This will sadden me greatly – as the cutting or offshoot will take awhile to grow. Elder’s do grow quite quickly, but of course, the new one will not be able to replace the beauty, splendour and usefulness of the original. Not for awhile, anyway.

So as much as I realise I have no choice but to remove it, I continue to delay it. Meanwhile, it’s too big, I can no longer reach the branches to gather the blossoms. Oh what a dilemma! It will be a very sad day when I gather the courage to remove it.

I wonder why I am so attached to this tree. Is it because I feel like its mother? I planted it when it was very young and have watched it grow up. I feel proud of my Elder tree, just as I feel proud of my children. When it displays its flowers, I feel like it has put on its prettiest party dress – just for me! As the wind blows its branches I am reminded of my daughter, swirling around in her finest, excitedly showing how beautiful she looks and feels. When I use the flowers to make a tea to soothe a cold, I am reminded of the concern this tree gives to us. Its a tree that responds to love and kindness with abundant growth, blossoms and berries, it gives back to me.

©T.Seed 2002