She Had Cashews On Her Feet: Astilbe My Heart

Many of my military friends wonder why I spend so much time, effort and money gardening in yards that are merely borrowed for a few years. They figure “Why bother? You’ll just be moving soon” or “Why invest in improving someone else’s property?” But then I go out into my backyard to pot up some volunteer perennials for a friend’s new garden and I see this:

Learning a whole new set of plants to culture... First it was plants that grew in the season-less warm fog of coastal southern California, then in the southern end of a different state (Maryland) and in much more summer sun than we ever saw on the coast, then I really discovered what “full sun” meant in the Mojave desert and finally back to the east coast to figure out what to plant in the shade under the towering oaks of the northern Virginia suburbs. Worth it.

(Hostas and Daylily)

Sinking $$$ into a yard that I do not own and will have to walk away from in a year or two... Worth it.

(Veronica & Anna)

Hours spent pulling up fugitive lawn grass, chickweed, henbit, chokeweed, plantain lilies, that unknown weed we always call “the sacrificial weed” because everything (from aphids to flea beetles to slugs to deer) always chews on it first, and all those miles of mock strawberries that thrive in this wild, green jungle known as the mid-Atlantic states... Worth it.

(Nicotiana and Phlox)

Hauling and spreading tons of mulch in half-empty beds while waiting for my bargain-priced perennials to get big enough to keep the rabid weeds at bay... Worth it.

(Ligularia)

Suffering innumerable bites from Asian mosquitoes that are obviously confused regarding the time zone and are not sleeping during the day like the reasonable native mosquitoes... Worth it.

(back to front: Columbine, Nicotiana, various Heucheras & Hosta)

Taking a yard containing a bunch of huge beds filled only with impatiens and a few large shrubs and turning it into a blooming, thriving garden bursting with textures, colors and smells... Worth it.