ASBURY, W.Va.- Rosemary’s Pumpkins and Pines wrapped up its 2026 Christmas tree seedling planting season this week in a way that has quickly become a Patch tradition, by inviting families and friends to plant their very first Christmas trees together.
Now in its second year, the invitational planting at the Patch brought children, parents, friends, and neighbors into the fields to dig holes, plant seedlings, laugh, run through the grass, and place tiny trees into the ground that will one day become part of their own family traditions.
Families visited the Patch to select and plant their trees by hand. Each seedling carried its own personality and story.
Jennings and Kade Vaughan, grandsons of Lynn Quillen, planted their first Christmas trees knowing that in six-to-eight years the small seedlings would be ready to harvest and take home for Christmas. Ellowyn Walkup and her dad, Marshall Walkup, planted a Norway Spruce and carefully inspected the place in the ground where her tree would go to make sure it fit perfectly in its new home. Jax Cole, Kaydence Cole, and Kiley Workman, children of Justin Cole and Rachel Johnson, spent the afternoon planting trees alongside their family at the Patch. Jax’s Norway Spruce was selected with a grin and the understanding that a busy little boy probably needed a strong tree to keep up with him. Kaydence selected a Colorado Blue Spruce, while Kiley planted a Canaan Fir.
For Rosemary’s Pumpkins and Pines owner Cindi Cole, the planting days have become about much more than agriculture.
“The laughter, kids running through the Patch, parents helping plant trees together that’s what this place is about,” Cole said. “These trees will grow right alongside memories.”
One of those memories is already reaching beyond the farm itself.
Last year, Adley Callison planted her very first Christmas tree at the Patch. A photograph from that moment was later selected for the West Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association banner and will now travel across the state as part of the association’s display, including appearances at the West Virginia State Fair booth.
Cole said seeing a simple family moment from the Patch become part of the statewide Christmas tree community was something special.
“That picture started here with a little girl planting her first tree,” Cole said. “Now it represents Christmas tree farming across West Virginia. That means a lot.”
The Patch planted 350 Christmas tree seedlings for the 2026 season including varieties such as Canaan Fir, Fraser Fir, Norway Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce, Douglas Fir, and Concolor Fir.
While the seedlings are small now, the vision behind them stretches years into the future with families returning to harvest trees they once planted with their own hands.
And at Rosemary’s Pumpkins and Pines, that future is already taking root.
Story submitted by Cindi Cole
