Is there anything better than the aroma and taste of freshly baked peach cobbler?

If there is, I’d like to try it.

Every 6,000 years, the Chinese immortals host an extravagant ceremony called The Feast of Peaches. The trees planted for such occasions take 1,000 years to sprout leaves and another 3,000 to ripen the fruit. Still a popular celebration in China, it is observed on the third day of the third moon month.

The peach blossom is their flower of February, as well as being the symbol of longevity and marriage and the emblem of a bride. When peaches appear in Chinese art, they symbolize a long or everlasting life.

In Japan, it also serves as the emblem of immortality and makes the best divining rods.

In the language of flowers, it says “I am your captive.”

In China, the ripe seeds are used to treat digestive disorders. There and elsewhere, they are also pressed to produce peach oil, which is used in cosmetics and aromatherapy.

The Chinese hung peach pit pendants around children’s necks to keep demons away. They also believed the peach yielded the most powerful magic wands, and they used its branches to drive off evil spirits.

Its flowers have been used to expel intestinal parasites, while the fruit can be used as a refreshing skin mask.

Ozark folklore has it that the bark must be scraped downwards to treat complaints of the lower body, and upwards for those of the upper.

Carrying a piece of peach wood with you may lengthen your life or even render you immortal, though the jury’s still out on that.

Georgia has been the Peach State since 1995. Growers prize their reputation for producing the highest quality fruit.

The climate and soil of Georgia help a bit too, one supposes.

Prunus persica shares the same genus as almond, plum, apricot, sloe, black cherry and choke cherry.

In the garden, plant grapes, garlic, onions or asparagus under or near peach trees as helpers. The garlic in particular repels peach tree borers – a huge problem for growers. Keep them away from potatoes, tomatoes and raspberries.

I once cured a tree of peach leaf curl using a tea made of chives. Since I had grown the chives as well, it cost almost nothing.

It was once held that if a peach tree dropped its leaves out of season, it betokened a murrain – an infectious disease affecting either crops or cattle.

If you’re having your own Feast of Peaches this year, do save me some cobbler.

– A reference librarian, Lisa Karen Miller has been gardening and researching plant lore for many years. Have plant lore to share? Email lisalisa13131313@gmail.com.