A Seed Saver's Garden

[Dahlia]

In mid-July my local mom & pop grocery store put out a couple tables and offered up all their remaining greenhouse plants for free. Most of them were dead and beyond hope, but they were free, so I said what the heck they might be good for a fall planter. I brought them home and then proceeded to also neglect them in the tray, so neglect compiled on more neglect. Eventually I did get to them in their advanced stage of expiration, quickly slapped them all in a pot, added some food and water and went on with other things. And not much happened really. But last week I took a second look at the pot, and wow, stuff has come to life! Even the little Black Eyed Susan vine in there which I chopped right down might have a few teeny flowers by October!
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This reminds me of a brilliant red mum I bought once. It was so full of blooms for many months. Then winter came and all the flowers withered and it dried up into some brown stems. I thought it was dead. Well, I left it in its pot until spring came along. Around March I saw some little green shoots among the old brown stems. A month later it was full and bushy - all green and lush stems and leaves! Not too long after that it bloomed like never before!
Moral of the story: plants that look dead often are not!

 

[flowerbug]

This reminds me of a brilliant red mum I bought once. It was so full of blooms for many months. Then winter came and all the flowers withered and it dried up into some brown stems. I thought it was dead. Well, I left it in its pot until spring came along. Around March I saw some little green shoots among the old brown stems. A month later it was full and bushy - all green and lush stems and leaves! Not too long after that it bloomed like never before!
Moral of the story: plants that look dead often are not!

yes, and you can often divide those up into parts and plant those to get a larger patch if you need to...