{This Moment} See Beautiful: Throwaways

We have a favorite nursery where we have bought almost all of our trees, shrubs, and perennials since moving to our house 18 years ago. It's run by two sisters, who both have areas of expertise. One is brilliant in the greenhouse; her sister is a genius with the large outdoor plants. It's because of them that our yard is kind of our oasis and a certified wildlife habitat.

Now and then, though, I find myself at the garden section of one of those home repair stores, eyeing the bargain table in the back where the brown, withered, past-due-date plants languish with bright orange stickers proclaiming their status. We'd throw it out but maybe some sucker will give us 50 cents for it.

Here are two  perennials that were deemed hopeless:

Coral Bells with their gorgeous maroon leaves.

Daylilies. No idea what kind.

And here are two shrubs that hated their original spots in the yard and nearly died. The vote to throw them out was overruled. Here they are, vigorously claiming their new locations, happy at last:
 

Forsythia

Lilac

The lesson plants like these have taught me is the tenacity of life. Given a chance, a living plant will struggle to grow and flourish. That's beautiful.

They aren't throwaways because they failed, but because we did. 

Today a new thought occurred to me. Chimpanzees left without water and food after serving for years as research animals. Companion animals surrendered for reasons like "we got a new sofa" after years of giving unconditional love. Tiger cubs sold for canned hunts when they get past the cute stage after months of exploitation for tourist photos. So many more.

Animals, too, become throwaways through no fault of their own. And like the plants I shared here, all they need is to be given a chance at life. There are so many rescues, sanctuaries, and individuals who give animals their second chance. They pick up strays, send money to an animal rights group, visit a shelter when they want a pet, and work in innumerable ways to help. When an animal is failed by humans, they step in.

And that's beautiful.