Through many dangers, toils and snares

Despite the crush of heavy equipment, truck and car traffic, ice storms and general disregard, the flowering shrub Ellen wanted to keep has survived. Of course, she had thought it was a magnolia when she asked our builder to be careful around it. He was. The magnolia idea came from me (call me Mr. Nature), but now that we've seen the blossoms, the current speculation is a white dogwood. It was severely damaged by last year's late frost and ice, so it's been heavily pruned of the dead and damaged, but where there's life there's hope. It will receive TLC from this point forward, so maybe it has a chance to prosper.