Yesterday I posted on Facebook that weeding isn’t for sissies. That comment was provoked by spending parts of Saturday and Sunday afternoons out pulling weeds. Did I mention that it was hot and humid? Well it was. Temps were in the upper 80s and 90s and the humidity seemed to match. They were the kind of days when you could take a shower and feel clean and refreshed and then step outside and feel like you had caught yourself in an early episode of dementia. “Wow! I think I should have showered before starting out today…”

So weeding isn’t for sissies. You have to stick with it to make some progress and you are going to get dirty and sweaty and mosquitoes will bite you. That’s the chore you just signed up for. Mosquitoes alone will keep the delicate from venturing forth. It bears repeating: it’s not for sissies.

I have a lot of flowerbeds that I joyfully look forward to working in every spring and summer. I love the parade of blossoms as each plant in turn puts on its show. “Look at me!” shout my tree peonies. “No! Over here!” tempt the columbine. Astilbe, aster, brunnera, caryopteris, cranesbill, hemerocallis, lavender, monarda, plumeria…each in its own season. And they are under constant attack from a stealthier foe: Weeds are much quieter, not wanting the attention until they have amassed such an army that total domination seems at hand. Funny thing is, many of them have lovely flowers as well, usually in shades of purple. The blossoms on the dreaded creeping charlie actually complement the orange and peach hues of the daylilies. And yet they must be pulled to advance the growth of the good flowers.

It’s not just for my good pleasure that I weed on days that keep the sissies inside. My neighbors also take care of their flowerbeds and those sweet flowers on the other side of the fence between us were being advanced upon by that same creeping charlie. Something had to be done and so I did it. Some days being a good neighbor isn’t for sissies either.