--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She was going to plant a Japanese maple…" description: "\"“She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. She had already procured it, a lovely sapling with pale bark and the most elegant limbs, long and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg" --- # She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. She… ![“She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. She had already procured it, a lovely sapling with pale bark and the most elegant limbs, long and even, fine but strong. It had been one of Edward's favorite trees; the leaves were red in spring, turning by autumn to a most beautiful bright…” quote by Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg) > ““She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. She had already procured it, a lovely sapling with pale bark and the most elegant limbs, long and even, fine but strong. It had been one of Edward's favorite trees; the leaves were red in spring, turning by autumn to a most beautiful bright copper color, just like Lily Millington's hair. No, not Lily Millington, she corrected herself, for that had never been her real name. "Albertine," Lucy whispered, thinking back to that mild Hampstead afternoon when she had seen the shock of red in the glass house at the bottom of the garden and Mother had instructed her to take two cups of tea "in the finest china." "Your name was Albertine Bell." Birdie, to those who loved her.”” [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A woman reflects on planting a tree that symbolizes memory, identity, and loss, intertwining personal history with family secrets. **In simple terms:** Planting a tree evokes memory and identity. Key Takeaway Honor memories through tangible symbols. Themes memory identity loss family nature Mood reflective melancholic Type literary emotional When to use this quote - gardening - family gatherings - heritage preservation - grieving rituals Key Concepts symbolism nostalgia psychology Questions to Reflect On - What objects help you keep loved ones present? - How do physical symbols shape personal narratives? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize grief, overlooking practical concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Albertine Lucy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/albertine-lucy-5979914/) [China Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china-albertine-5979915/) [Commemoration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commemoration/) [Glass House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glass-house/) [Japanese Maple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/japanese-maple-2148701/) [Lovely Sapling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovely-sapling-5979916/) [Maple Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maple-tree-897647/) [Real-name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-name-154937/) [Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/redhead/) [Spoiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoiler/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [“Hey, can you do me a favor?" "Anything." "Will you... Will you call me by my name?" She beams, her face brighter than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kwan/hey-can-you-do-me-a-favor-anything-will-you-will-you-call-me-by-my/) [Katrina Kwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kwan/) > [Everyone had a Japanese maple, although after Pearl Harbor most of these were patriotically poisoned, ringbarked and extirpated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-humphries/everyone-had-a-japanese-maple-although-after-pearl-harbor-most-of/) [Barry Humphries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-humphries/) > [In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/in-october-a-maple-tree-before-your-window-lights-up-your-room-like-a/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [“It was evening and would be when I woke. No matter. From the maple tree the Red-tail spoke.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-conaway/it-was-evening-and-would-be-when-i-woke-no-matter-from-the-maple-tree/) [Cameron Conaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-conaway/) > [“The maple tree plays a meaningful role in the historical development of Canada. It contributes to wood products, sustains the maple sugar industry, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/planet-collection/the-maple-tree-plays-a-meaningful-role-in-the-historical-development/) [Planet Collection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/planet-collection/) > [“...raised herself on one round elbow and looked out on a tiny river like a gleaming blue snake winding itself around a purple hill.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/raised-herself-on-one-round-elbow-and-looked-out-on-a-tiny-river-like/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [You cannot imprison me!" He bellowed. "I am Hyperion! I am-" The bark closed over his face. Grover took his pipes from his mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/you-cannot-imprison-me-he-bellowed-i-am-hyperion-i-am-the-bark-closed/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by Kate Morton > [“Laurel wondered whether perhaps a person reached an age when so much was kept from them, so many details of life discussed and decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/laurel-wondered-whether-perhaps-a-person-reached-an-age-when-so-much/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It hardly needs to be said: sooner or later secrets have a way of making themselves known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-hardly-needs-to-be-said-sooner-or-later-secrets-have-a-way-of/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Give someone more time and they'll appear to have done more with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/give-someone-more-time-and-they-ll-appear-to-have-done-more-with-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It suddenly seemed to Laurel that all the absences in her own life, every loss and sadness, every nightmare in the dark, every unexplained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-suddenly-seemed-to-laurel-that-all-the-absences-in-her-own-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Rejection is a cancer, Edie. It eats away at a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/rejection-is-a-cancer-edie-it-eats-away-at-a-person/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/home-is-a-magnet-that-lures-back-even-its-most-abstracted-children/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“tiempo tiene su peculiar manera de moldear a la gente de forma que ellos mismos ya no se reconocen,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/tiempo-tiene-su-peculiar-manera-de-moldear-a-la-gente-de-forma-que/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I want to know how it feels to be altered by life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-want-to-know-how-it-feels-to-be-altered-by-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“She'd opened the front cover and fallen inside the wonderful, frightening, magical illustrations. She'd wondered what it must feel like to escape the rigid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-d-opened-the-front-cover-and-fallen-inside-the-wonderful/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [It's special, grandparents and grandchldren. So much simpler. Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one's child takes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-s-special-grandparents-and-grandchldren-so-much-simpler-is-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“... and I thought -not for the first time- what a true and simple pleasure it was, to be inside and sated when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/and-i-thought-not-for-the-first-time-what-a-true-and-simple-pleasure/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Nell was like a witch. Her long silvery hair rolled into a bun on the back of her head, the narrow wooden house on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/nell-was-like-a-witch-her-long-silvery-hair-rolled-into-a-bun-on-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Thinking of nothing. Trying to think of nothing. Thinking of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/thinking-of-nothing-trying-to-think-of-nothing-thinking-of-everything/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [There's a market for mysteries for adults. That feeling of opening a book and delving inside and not coming out until you've closed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/there-s-a-market-for-mysteries-for-adults-that-feeling-of-opening-a/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I don’t have many friends, not the living, breathing sort at any rate. And I don’t mean that in a sad and lonely way;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-don-t-have-many-friends-not-the-living-breathing-sort-at-any-rate/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) [Explore all 334 Kate Morton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## More Commemoration quotes > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“In daylight we pick up our tinned rations and hike off, every artery and nerve of us, into the rest of our commemorative lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-gallagher/in-daylight-we-pick-up-our-tinned-rations-and-hike-off-every-artery/) [Tess Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-gallagher/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901 Be not afraid to pray... to pray is right. Pray if thou canst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/commemoration-of-brooke-foss-westcott-bishop-of-durham-teacher-1901/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [“Any commemoration is also a betrayal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/any-commemoration-is-also-a-betrayal/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“If I could sum up my poetry in a few well-chosen words, the result might be a poem. Several years ago, when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-thwaite/if-i-could-sum-up-my-poetry-in-a-few-well-chosen-words-the-result/) [Anthony Thwaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-thwaite/) > [Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915 Our critical day is not the very day of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-richard-meux-benson-founder-of-the-society-of-st/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Most people are not really scared of death. They are merely terrified of being taken to a mortuary and/or being buried or cremated and/or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-people-are-not-really-scared-of-death-they-are-merely-terrified/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [My work has typically been about finding a means to express memory and commemoration for loss and grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-regan/my-work-has-typically-been-about-finding-a-means-to-express-memory/) [John Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-regan/) > [“When the singing ended, I chatted with others in my pew, including a tall, aristocratic-looking man with pomaded gray hair. I told him about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-horwitz/when-the-singing-ended-i-chatted-with-others-in-my-pew-including-a/) [Tony Horwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-horwitz/) > [I often imagine what it would be like if my father were still here to mark his 100th birthday, if Alzheimer's hadn't clawed away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-davis/i-often-imagine-what-it-would-be-like-if-my-father-were-still-here-to/) [Patti Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-davis/) > [Holocaust Memorial Day is intended as an inclusive commemoration of all the individuals and communities who suffered as a result of the Holocaust -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-straw/holocaust-memorial-day-is-intended-as-an-inclusive-commemoration-of/) [Jack Straw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-straw/) > [The commemoration of Christ's saving Passion is at hand, and the new, great spiritual Passover, which is the reward for dispassion and the prelude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/the-commemoration-of-christ-s-saving-passion-is-at-hand-and-the-new/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [“Let you sing of us all by name, that we may live as long as the song." "All three hundred of you?" Aneirin said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-sutcliff/let-you-sing-of-us-all-by-name-that-we-may-live-as-long-as-the-song/) [Rosemary Sutcliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-sutcliff/) > [History is the enactment of ritual on a permanent and universal stage; and its perpetual commemoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-o-brown/history-is-the-enactment-of-ritual-on-a-permanent-and-universal-stage/) [Norman O. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-o-brown/) [Browse all 38 Commemoration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commemoration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. She had already procured it, a lovely sapling with pale bark and the most elegant limbs, long and even, fine but strong. It had been one of Edward's favorite trees; the leaves were red in spring, turning by autumn to a most beautiful bright copper color, just like Lily Millington's hair. No, not Lily Millington, she corrected herself, for that had never been her real name. \"Albertine,\" Lucy whispered, thinking back to that mild Hampstead afternoon when she had seen the shock of red in the glass house at the bottom of the garden and Mother had instructed her to take two cups of tea \"in the finest china.\" \"Your name was Albertine Bell.\" Birdie, to those who loved her.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kate Morton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple-tree-on-top-she-had-already/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Commemoration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple-tree-on-top-she-had-already/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/kate-morton-805_commemoration_she-was-going-to-plant-a-japanese-maple_1582300.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She was going to plant a Japanese maple tree on top. 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