My Grandmother's Yellow Cherry Plum Tree
When I was in middle school, my uncle gave my grandmother a baby yellow cherry plum tree. I had fun planting it in her backyard, and I was very excited when it started producing plums a few years later. As the tree grew older, I learned about its unique ability. As the roots grew outward, they produced multiple shoots that would pop up and grow around the original plum tree. Each of these shoots had the potential to become a new tree.
In 2004, I bought my first house. It was a ranch-style fixer-upper that reminded me of my grandmother's house. That following year, while visiting my grandmother, I dug up one of the plant shoots and brought it home. It was about a foot high and had a 3-inch root piece attached.
I planted my shoot in the fall and saw its first signs of life at the beginning…