Curry leaf

The curry leaf plant is treasured in the Indian/Sri Lankan community, especially in the U.S. because, as far as I know, it's not a plant that grows from seed. This plant is propagated from "babies" that grow from the mother plant's root system. The immigrant Indian/Sri Lankan community has adopted out these babies through the years and across the country....and who knows, perhaps all the plants around today came from one mother plant that may have surreptitiously traveled here across the oceans!!

It's also fairly temperamental with cold weather - all my relatives in colder states have their curry leaf plants in large pots that are moved indoors once fall settles in, and they are tended to with great care although they aren't the most attractive of plants. Indian food is just not the same without fresh curry leaves, so this is a prized commodity in the South Asian kitchen.

My father brought me one such baby from a relative's home in Houston years ago and that little 4-inch plant smuggled across state lines has become a little tree, no doubt much thanks to my parents careful care in its early years, as well as good advice from my sister-in-law Sheena to "prune it to a stump" to encourage growth. Thank goodness for sunny AZ because this little lady thrives in the sunshine and she has birthed many babies that have been gifted to other homes.