The Magnolia

The first house Mrs IttH and I ever bought had a huge Magnolia tree, virtually the entire back garden. As we were an 'upside down' house our lounge looked down on to it when it bloomed.
We've planted one at every house we've lived in since. 
When we moved here, 14 years ago we planted one. Pushka (our now passed husky dog) was in her prime, and for reasons best known to her she took a dislike to it and chomped it down to a stick. We never really got round to doing anything with it and it never did anything other than remain a foot high mangled stick that didn't look really alivd, but it didn't detract from the part of the garden it was in, so it just got overlooked. And then last year suddenly after a dormant decade it burst into life and grew into a sizable little shrub. This year against all the odds it's made a few flowers - proof that nature finds a way, we all get a chance to bloom.