According to "Azuma Kagami" (The Mirror of the East), on March 12, 1212, Sanetomo took off a branch of plum blossoms and delivered it to Tomonari without disclosing the sender but Tomonari immediately figured it out that it was the act of Sanetomo, and made a poem of gratitude: "Gladness and the fragrance are filling my sleeves too much. The first flower of the plum tree was taken off for my sake" and sent him back.
吾妻鏡によると、建暦2年2月1日(旧暦)（1212年3月12日）に実朝が梅の花を一枝折って送り人知らずで朝業に届けさせると、朝業は直ぐに実朝の仕業と解し「嬉しさも匂いも袖に余りける、我が為折れる梅の初花」と一首詠んで追奉したとある。