When we bought our home, more than 20 years ago, we also inherited a large garden. Planted by the original owner, this once-magnificent pride of the neighbourhood had long been neglected and was now so overgrown and filled with weeds it took weeks of hard labour to regain a semblance of order. In our excavations, we discovered this old Weigela in our backyard. It was my aunt who recognized it for what it was – as it had grown to become more stringy tree than beautiful bush.

Our restoration and redesign of the space included annual and aggressive pruning of the Weigela, which yielded more growth and fragrant pink blossoms than you can imagine. So much so, that during a recent storm, the weight of the blooms caused one of the larger branches to snap right off. It had fallen and lay sadly blocking the back access to the path. The unfortunate task fell to my husband, who was forced to take saw in hand to the broken limb with high hopes it would continue on after the carnage.

Well, lo and behold – just the other day, as we strolled past the sight of former glory, we spotted a fresh, new sprout – right on top of the old branch!

You can’t imagine the feelings of jubilance and rejoice upon seeing such a simple shoot! We should all have such vigour and will to live. You just can’t keep a good shrub down!