There are lots of reasons why I love Linden Trees. I started to notice them more than 45 years ago when we studied Walther von der Vogelweide’s (c. 1170-1230) famous poem called “Under the Lindens” in my German Literature class. I always smiled when saying this poet’s name. It sounded like music–the word connotes a pastoral scene with bird song. Walther was from a beautiful place, or so I imagined.

His is a love poem which paints a picture of young lovers meeting under the linden tree where flowers and grasses witnessed a thousand kisses and were known to no one but a tiny little bird. Such romance never grows old.

Later while visiting Berlin, I learned of the famous lindens that line the streets of that city. All throughout Europe, the linden is loved for its heart-shaped leaves, its ability to attract bees for honey making, its wood for carving, and its medicinal properties. You can read more here.

But this morning, under an early summer blue sky, I loved the linden once again for its lovely fragrance and its pleasing silhouette. The way its flowers connect to the tree so delicately. I wished to linger near and sit under its shade.