Nate Sponseller (ABC Gardener), Gayle Engels, and Mark Blumenthal.Photo ©2006 ABC.

The American Botanical Council (ABC) expanded its tree garden in June when ABC Board of Trustees and staff dedicated 2 trees in memory of Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal's father, Alfred A. Blumenthal, a watercolorist, who died in May at age 94. The trees chosen to honor Mr. Blumenthal's full, creative life are a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and a southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). The bur oak is a slow-growing native Texas oak that could ultimately reach 100 feet in height and spread. The southern magnolia, which has fragrant white flowers that bloom in May, will serve as a reminder of Mr. Blumenthal's life through the Jewish tradition of Yahrzeit, in which the deceased person's life is celebrated each year at the anniversary of his passing.

—Gayle Engels