My father once cut an overgrown plant in my Michigan garden nearly to the stem. Looked as bald as this one. I was mortified. He promised it would grow back more beautiful than before. I was skeptical. Spring eventually returned after a seemingly endless Northern winter. And I sent a photo on Father's Day, "Dad is always right." Great lesson about how things sometimes need a good pruning.
Plus, this specific little shrub has a past...my grandfather kept exactly the same variety in his garden. I loved how it changed colors over the seasons from green to pink to yellow-orange. I put one in my Michigan garden some years ago partly in his honor. And then I found this one in my garden box here.
It is the only plant I saved from the compost in April. Kept in honor of my grandfather, pruned in honor of my father, and in fact, also remembering that my landlord's father once lived in my apartment and perhaps originally planted it.
I like how its colors return.
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