Today’s guerrilla mission is about geraniums. A pot of red ones are about to land this morning, clandestinely, at the southeast corner of Pape and Cosburn Avenues — a little splash of colour amidst the hustle and bustle of this city neighbourhood.

The driver of the northbound 25b Don Mills bus pulls down his mask to take a sip of coffee. As he opens the front doors of the bus, he looks over to see a guerrilla gardener crossing Pape. The middle-aged gardener, wearing a Bruce County Plowing Match ball cap, is trying to look nonchalant while hauling a bucket of soil, a geranium arrangement, a garden trowel, a black plastic garden planter, and some rocks (for drainage) across the intersection.

The front suspension of the 25b bus kneels to help passengers board. Just a few feet away, the guerrilla gardener finds a nice spot for the flower planter, at the west end of the Bethany Baptist Church. Like this neighbourhood, the church has been hustling during the pandemic, providing a weekly food program along with virtual services and youth programs. Later today, hundreds of people will line up on Cosburn to receive food donations.

Across the street, McDonald’s is getting a facelift, the golden arches still rising above the construction site hoarding.

With the geranium arrangement firmly nestled in the black planter, the guerrilla gardener decants extra soil to ground the tiny garden in its new home. In the final phase of this covert action, he walks back to his nondescript 2011 Dodge minivan to get a watering can, and returns to give the geraniums a good dousing. Leftover water provides a drink for some emerging hostas and other perennials on the site.

As he patches up a few bricks at the garden perimiter, his cochlear implant battery beeper goes off. To change the battery, and keep hearing the birds and buses, he sits on a sturdy red bench provided by the church for passersby.

Rough-and-ready Grackles — black birds with hints of metallic green — flutter over to the bench, expecting a treat. There is nothing but a stale crust and two cigarette butts on the ground. The gardener makes a mental note to bring a muffin next time.

The sun is shines on a warm May day after a long winter and even longer pandemic. To the north, the road is busy with multi-modal transportation. A cyclist, a pick-up truck driver, and the Cosburn bus driver and passengers all wait patiently for the light to change to proceed westbound. On a hydro box nearby, an artist named Sarah has painted a pretty floral design to beautify the space.

Of course, a tiny garden is more than a clandestine guerrilla mission. It will need nurturing over the coming months. Weeding, watering, pruning, tidying, waiting, appreciating.

But for today, this gardener’s mission is accomplished.