It never hurts to ask

Confession.

Now you are intrigued, and you think I have a deep secret to share with you.  Nope.
Just this:  I don't actually have any white peonies in my garden.

Whammo.  I know.  You weren't expecting that.

It's not from lack of trying.  One year, I begged a start from my friend, LeaAnn, master gardener galore.  I planted it too late, and poor guy withered in the heat.  Last year, I bought a bare root from Aldi.  It actually came up this year (another reason to love Aldi), but if I remember from the package, the blooms will be red.  Good, but not white.

A block west of us, there is a rental house we pass on walks.  Sometimes it has tenants, sometimes it's empty for months.  There are three clumps of beautiful white peonies that come up every spring, and just as they are getting ready to bloom, BAM.  Whoever is in charge of the lawn situation comes along and tidies things up.

For two years I have been wanting to sneak over there in the dead of night and dig up those peonies.  When it comes to pretty flowers, my system of ethics is not black and white.  I would try to convince Aaron (whose moral standards are more unwavering than mine) of the greatness of this idea.  "No one lives there!"  "No one is getting to enjoy the beauty!"  "If we move them to our yard, they won't get mowed over, and many people will enjoy them!"  "You don't have to come with me, okay?"

Unbudging, he is.  But also incredibly awesome...because...

This year, when I saw the plants and asked to see if he'd changed his thoughts on stealing abandoned flowers, he had an idea.

"Get the number of the guy that owns the house, and I'll call him."

Done!  I got the owner's name (thank you online website of the county assessor's office), looked up his number, and wrote it on a sticky note.  Do I sound like a stalker?  Because of course I am not, but I am pretty good at it...

Aaron called this morning, and the lady said, "Sure.  Have at it."

WAHOO!  Free established perennials!  Free established perennials of my favorite variety!

It's amazing how much confidence doing things properly gives you.  We walked over in broad daylight, shovel in hand.  Aaron starting digging, cars starting passing, but not once did we feel the need to hide.  No sirree, we had asked the owner.

All in all, I think it turned out much better than my previously planned 007 mission.

The first ground-breaking

We brought Maggie, which was a poor idea

The loot!

Have you ever had the urge to steal rescue plants from an empty yard?   Do you ever look in the windows of empty houses?  I got busted once doing that...I tell you, I have all the signs of a stalker...