I’ve been a gardener for decades, mainly in the desert. For the past 30 years I’ve toiled in the raised beds on the east side of my Phoenix, Arizona home. That’s the first thing you learn. Never plant your garden where the scorching fingers of the afternoon sun can creep in and turn your lovingly tended plants into sad little twigs.
The other thing you learn is that we have two growing seasons. In the fall—the first week of October or whenever the heat has subsided to nonlethal temperatures— we plant greens and herbs. In the spring, around the first week of March, we plant carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and peppers and hope they bear fruit before the heat hits.
It’s a delicate dance.
Today, I spend part of my time in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and I’ll admit I couldn’t wait to get my hands into that rich tropical soil. While I don’t have as much room as my garden in Phoenix affords, my sweetie pie built me a moveable rack from a discarded door where I hang pots. I figured container gardening couldn’t be all that tough, especially with all the gentle rain we get. For those of us who are desert dwellers, the idea that water comes naturally from the sky is quite exhilarating
What I didn’t expect is that gardening in the tropics can be as fraught as it is in the desert. My first crop was happy at first, but then inexplicably everything died. Who knew there were growing seasons in the tropics? Something a kind man pointed out while staring at my cleverly designed door that, at that point, held mostly dead plants.
“Try again in December,” he said. “It’s too hot now.”
The problem is I’m not on my little island in December. We generally head back to Phoenix in November, where I recently found myself staring at what was previously my beautifully landscaped desert yard. What did I find? Dead plants! It had been an extraordinarily hot summer and fall, with virtually no rain. I expected the boys—okay, they’re men in their late 20s—who live in my home to have noticed my thirsty trees and flowers and herbs.
“Why didn’t you water the plants!” I pointed at the front yard where sad-looking foliaged drooped in the heat.
“I didn’t notice,” my son said, avoiding my gaze.
“How could you not see everything dying?”
He shrugged.
The indoor plants were equally as bedraggled, most overflowing as if they’d just been watered because I’d soon be coming home. As for my garden, nothing survived, not even the indestructible rosemary bush or the pomegranate tree that had shadowed my herb garden from the sun for decades.
At that moment, I realized that given my nomadic lifestyle I might have to give up gardening altogether. Even if I’m in the right place at the right time to plant a garden, I won’t be there to tend it.
Recently, I walked around my backyard, rather depressed. It use to burst with color. But, as I am preparing to head back to St. Croix, there seemed to be no point in planting anything.
Then, I had a thought. I asked Ryan to get some paint to spiff up our two beige sheds, while I went to the Mexican Import Store.
Yes, I know they’re not real flowers. But, hey, no one ever has to water them. While my solution is not perfect, it works. And even the boys can’t kill my metal flowers.
Your Forgotten Sons
Inspired by a true story
Anne Montgomery
Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?
Release Date: June 6, 2024
Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.
Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.
Author Anne Montgomery 
Your colorful metal subs are delightful. ..and everyone loved art in the garden. Maybe you could plant annual flowers next to your metal ones, they will probably give up around the same time you leave town. 🥰
Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef
LikeLike
I like my metal flowers, too, Sherm. I think for now they will have to do, as I’m sure very soon the mercury will once again be soaring. 😉
LikeLike