One of my favorite books is Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a novel about a book with the words "Don't Panic" written in "nice friendly letters" on the cover. They are words to live by, but if you don't believe me, then look at the garden. I was reminded of this when Frances, of Fairegarden, was distressed that some critter had broken off the stem of her new peony, Paeonia miokosewitschii, known affectionately to her admirers as "Molly the Witch." Frances was relieved when it resprouted from the roots shortly thereafter. Rose, of Ramble on Rose, was ready to pitch her columbine seeds, thinking they weren't going to sprout, but she waited a long time and was finally rewarded.
Here's another example from my garden: snowdrops. These are tough little bloomers, living up to their name. But when there is no snow and the frost hits, this is what happens,
a sad collapse. The first reaction is "Oh, no! They're ruined by the frost!" Au contraire. As soon as the temperatures rise again, they pop right back up, no worse for the experience.
Following a very windy day, one of my new Clematis, 'Trikatrei', had a broken stem. The break was near the bottom of the stem, above the first node. I cut it back to the first node. I'm not worried about it. It will come back just fine. Even the Clematis that the kids dug up is showing signs of life now. Then there are all the plants that looked dead in March and the beginning of April, yet are full of life in June.
So the next time disaster strikes, don't panic, don't worry, just fix things up as best you can, sit back and wait. You just might be pleasantly surprised.