On our 30th wedding anniversary we bought 3 ornamental cherry trees, 2 pink (Kwanzan) and 1 white (Yoshino). Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us when we chose them, they had leaf spot. Leaf spot in our area is a fungus that thrives in the humidity.
I took a few leaves to the nursery where we purchased the trees hoping for insight on treatment, but the woman was more interested in her lunch than helping me. She managed to lift her hand from her sandwich long enough to point across the street to Lowe’s where I could buy fungicide.
For 3 years we sprayed. For 3 years the trees struggled. By August their branches would be bare, and eventually the 2 pink blossom trees died. The Yoshino struggled on.
One evening Cleo the big gray cat and I were sitting on the sofa listening to a thundershower move through when CRACK! lightning struck the last standing cherry tree. Cleo flew off my lap in terror and I bemoaned our terrible luck with ornamental cherry trees.
But you know what happened? The tree thrived. It is as if the lightning transferred energy to the tree. There is a black scar at the base of the trunk, but the tree is readying blossoms once more.
Budding once again
the Yoshino perseveres
energy transferred
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