Mum's the word!

Once the cold arrives in early October virtually all of my summer flowers displayed on the deck (in pots and flower boxes)  reached their peak and began to whither. I took my geraniums out of the pots and flower boxes for their long winter nap. I store them in a green garbage bag, after drying the roots a bit, and shaking off most of the dirt. I poke several holes in the plastic bag so the roots have some air and don't dry out.   The pink and red geraniums  go dormant during the winter but start shooting out little buds about mid February.

With our son Paul's wedding around the corner I knew it was the perfect time to cheer the place up with some autumn  Chrysanthemums. I bought five different colors from Kollmans' Greenhouse in Twinsburg. I transplanted them out of the plastic containers into my clay pots for display on the Deck.

I will try to plant these in the ground before the hard frost arrives, and hopefully some of them will survive the winter and be a source of many new mums next year.  I will  re-grow the Mum's shown and I will make cuttings from each of them.