Autumn Treasure

On Memorial Day this year, Jerry's sister Jean bought two pots of beautiful blooming chrysanthemums to place at his grave. After the holiday we brought the flowers home (if left, they would just be thrown away by the cemetery groundskeepers) and I put them on my deck amidst all my other pots.

Eventually the blooms were finished. I thought about just discarding the plants, but I have a hard time tossing out a living plant. I cut back the plants, gave them a little fertilizer, and kept them watered along with my other flowers. One of the pots flourished, putting out a lot of new foliage, which made an attractive spot of greenery even though the flowers were gone. The other pot did not fare as well. Two of the four plants in the pot simply died. The remaining two struggled on, still showing a few living leaves, so I continued to water them.

As the temps in October cooled and a hard frost could not be far off, I took a close look at the chrysanthemums. The healthy pot was loaded with bloom buds. Even the pitiful pot had a few buds on the stumpy little plants. I brought both pots inside and put them by a south window, added a little fertilizer to their water, and waited for results.