Why these atomic bomb surviving seeds are being planted in North Staffordshire
Seeds from trees that survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb in 1945 are set to be planted in North Staffordshire.
The two seeds will be grown at Keele University and cared for by the team until they become sturdy enough to be planted in the ground on campus.
It's part of an international project called Green Legacy Hiroshima which is designed to promote peace and hope.
The seeds have come from two trees which were growing less than a mile from the bomb site at the end of World War Two but miraculously survived.
Dr Sarah Taylor, a lecturer in ecology at Keele, said: "Now that we have the seeds, we can begin quite a long painstaking process of propagation and nurturing.
"The seeds will be sown onto compost and kept in heated plant propagators until signs of germination appear.
"The seedlings will need to be nurtured for several years before they are large enough to plant on the university campus, where we hope they will be a source of reflection and inspiration for a long time.
"Although they are tiny right now, they are still very powerful symbols of peace and hope and have so much history connected to them. It's going to be exciting to see the first green shoots rise from the earth."
The seeds were collected from an oriental plane tree (Platanus orientalis) in the grounds of the Tenma Elementary School – which was destroyed by the bombing – and a 200-year-old ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) growing in Shukkeien Garden.
Keele is the 19th UK partner of the Green Legacy Hiroshima initiative and the project was brought to the attention of the university's arboretum committee by Franco Castro Escobar following his postgraduate research trip to Hiroshima in the summer of 2024.
Franco said: "Keele has a special connection with Japan through the collection of cherry trees that we have on our campus, and this project will build on that relationship."
Sarah will be keeping a regular blog on the progress of the seeds. To view the blog, click here.
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