Start a Friendship Garden on Your Windowsill
A "friendship garden" is a small section of a garden consisting of plants received as gifts from friends or family members, or plants grown from seeds or cuttings of friends' plants. You may have a clone of a plant from a friend or family member who lives halfway around the country – or halfway around the world! Tending to and enjoying your friendship garden will remind you of all the people in your life who mean a lot to you. Even decades later, the memories will still grow on in your garden.
A sunny windowsill is the perfect spot for a small friendship garden. Start your garden today by asking some friends and family members if you can take cuttings from their plants. And you can help them get started on their gardens by offering them a piece of yours. If they live far away, it is easy to participate in a seed exchange with them.
There are many public friendship gardens (see Public Gardens Listing), which are a symbol of bringing different people together. Charlotte, N.C., Georgetown, Ky., Phoenix, Ariz., San Diego and San Jose, Calif., and Washington D.C., are just a few cities with friendship gardens.
Not only are there friendship gardens, but there are actually friendship plants! The Subtropical Botanical Garden in Sochi, Russia, is home to the Friendship Tree, a symbol of international friendship. People from 167 different countries have grafted citrus sprigs to it. Each graft has a metal tag attached to it with the grafter's name and the date it was attached.
Do you have a friendship garden? We want to hear about it! Tell us about it on Facebook or send your story and a photo of your garden to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Friendship garden stories and photos may be published on BalconyContainerGardening.com.
