Gardeners will tell you their plants hold special meaning to them, but few are more precious than Grant MacLean's hydrangeas.

Grant and his wife Jean planted the tree 40 years ago, at their Scotsburn, N.S. home. For years, the plant was thick and round and covered with dozens of blossoms.

“Over the years we donated the blooms to weddings, funerals, and other occasions,” says Grant.

“My mom made all of my wedding decorations using the flowers, and anyone who ever came in and wanted to take some, were always welcome to take them. Mom was always very giving in that way,” says Grant’s daughter Lori Benjamin.

The tree was a source of family comfort after Jean died two years ago. However, this past winter was especially rough and huge piles of snow covered the plant.

“In the spring, I looked at it and it was destroyed. So reluctantly, I cut it off, cut it down to the bare stump,” says Grant.

Weeks later, Grant noticed a handful of sprouts coming out of the stump.

In just a few months, they've grown six feet tall, with bloom clusters as big as basketballs.

The family is amazed at how quickly the plant has grown.

“To this day, now that it's bloomed again…my dad has taken some of the flower down to the cemetery to put on her grave, to share it with everyone there as well,” says Lori.

Grant has found comfort in the return of the hydrangea, and hopes others who have lost a loved one can find peace as well.

“I've lost people to different diseases over the years. I lost a son. I lost my wife. This to me, today, is commemorative of those people,” says Grant.

Lori says she believes she once again has her mother to thank for the pretty blooms.

“I do feel my mom around, around us every day and I think that this is probably an indication that she maybe had some hand in the regrowth of the tree,” says Lori.

Grant plans on picking the blooms in the next few weeks, as the weather get colder.

When the sun begins to shine strong in the spring, Grant hopes to see the flowers bloom again, a visual reminder of the woman he loves.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh