My personal search for the healing power of plants: “Pomegranate for Peace”

Almost two months ago, I started daytodaybotany.com with ideas to share and stories to tell; the story of photosynthesis which painted our planet, the story of an old man with a walnut sapling, and the story of plants who carry the genes of their relatives. I was, and still am excited about drawings for my new articles, photos for my new Instagram posts, …. Just let me be back to Albuquerque from my vacation in Toronto and I did.

But things do not always turn in the way we like them to be. Before unpacking my suitcase in Albuquerque, a tragedy happened. The escalated conflict between a place that I call my first home, Iran, and a place that I call my third home, the United States, resulted in the crash of the International Airlines Flight 752; among all the 176 passengers and flight crews we lost, was my best and dearest friends returning to Canada, the place I refer it to as my second home. The news was horrifying. I could not understand whether I was mournful for my loss, for our losses, or I was indignant for the injustice. I was mourning, Ukraine, Canada, Afghanistan, and Iran were mourning. Our soles were wounded. The tragedy was excruciating. Do I, do we, ever heal?

But in those early moments of unbearable sorrow, I did something good. I promised her, I promised myself that I will plant a tree, to continue the life that was taken from her, so early, so young, and in such an unjust way. And by that, unconsciously, I started my personal search for the healing power of plants. 

The idea of the healing power of plants was not mine, neither I was the first person who took refugee to nature. For thousands of years, from ancient gardening to this date of showering our beloved one with the beautiful flowers for the Valentine day, from drinking herbal tea and using medicinal plants to burning sandalwood and sage, from birth to death, plants have been indispensable from our physical and emotional healing, and from our happiness and sorrow. They have been there for us.

Patrick Hudson, a great colleague of mine suggested planting pomegranates. “Pomegranate grows very well in Albuquerque and it is a giver plant”. He said. “It is not just fruit for nutrition, it brings joy”.  How did not it come to my mind? And how a plant biologist from Midwest new-world whose relationship with pomegranate started around five years ago came to the same interpretation that my ancestors in old-world came into over two thousand years ago when they celebrated the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, by pomegranates. In biology, we call this phenomenon convergent evolution!

Pomegranates, these giver fruits with hundreds of seeds have been the symbol of fertility and love for us Iranians and for other West and Central Asian cultures. So, “Yes, let’s plant pomegranates,” I said, and we planted them. Cutting one fruit from Albuquerque Botanical garden that I had in my fridge from the last fall, we planted more than 250 seeds and now, we have more than 250 seedlings growing at the UNM biology greenhouse. I call the story pomegranate for peace, for peace in my heart and maybe more. It depends on how Albuquerque, the diverse and welcoming sunny city I have called it home for a little more than a year embraces these little advocates of peace. I am sure they will be welcomed as I was. For now, they just need to grow, and they are doing it very well. Some of them have already found their new homes and the others waiting. It turns out that even this is not the first time that pomegranate becomes an advocate of peace in contemporary history. Check here and here to see how planting pomegranate had changed the life of some Afghan farmers.     

I will continue to take care of them until they all find their permanent home, here in Albuquerque, where their mother gave birth to them. I will continue to rely on plants for their power of healing. I can not dare to imagine a day without them. What about you. How do you rely on the healing power of  plants?