• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Chrysanthemum Time

October 8, 2010 by Jeanne

It’s really and truly fall, with night time temperatures dipping into the forties and daytime temperatures remaining in the 70s and 80s.  Leaves crunch underfoot as I take my daily walk to the mailbox with Shadow in tow.  I’ve got the Halloween decorations out and the fall centerpiece my dad made almost 20 years ago. I can’t believe that this October he will be gone 13 years, and my mom gone for 20 years now.  Their birthdays are both in October, and the anniversary of my dad’s death is at the end of October. Fall now reminds me of my parents and of times gone by.

I’ve written before about how my dad grew chrysanthemums for the Long Island Chrysanthemum Society, and my sister Ann, too.  I was hesitant to plant mums here at Seven Oaks because of the deer. My friend, Mary Alice, once told me a funny story about her mums in her home in Pennsylvania. One bright autumn Saturday she went to the garden center and bought a dozen yellow chrysanthemums. She planted them along one side of her house among the shrubs.  After gardening for an hour she went into the house to wash up.  About an hour later she made a cup of tea in the kitchen and gazed out the window at the flower bed where she’d planted those bright yellow blossoms. Imagine her surprise and shock when all she saw was green!  And now she saw the culprit – deer – daintily chomping off each blossom and flower, leaving her with nothing but green stalks.

Since deer wander into my yard every evening, I thought I shouldn’t plant mums. I think having Shadow helps, though.  Her scent is all over the flower garden since she loves to be next to me while I weed or plant.  I also leave hair from her grooming sessions near the flower beds, hoping that the scent keeps the critters away.

Last year I planted a small purple mum. This year it is the size of a shrub!  I am waiting for the mums I bought at the April Master Gardener sale her in Farmville to bloom.  The plants grew huge and healthy, but I lost the labels. The leaves are the type that my dad grew, so I am hoping for some unusual colors or varieties.

This year, we planted yellow, burgundy and purple mums near the front walkway and along the driveway in the flower garden.  So far (fingers crossed!) so good – the flowers are still there.

I love to look at the mums.  They used to make me sad because I thought about my parents, but now they make me so happy.  As time goes by, bad memories fade and only good ones remain. I think Shakespeare was wrong when he said, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”  For me, only good memories remain.  Maybe, like weeding a garden, I weed out the bad ones.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Holiday Gift Ideas from the Garden for the Gardener
Next Post: 79 Pounds of Sweet Potatoes »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

a watering can next to a seed tray on a sidewalk

What Veggies Can I Plant Now?

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

tent caterpillars on a pear tree

How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

I spent last Saturday morning getting rid of Eastern tent caterpillars from the apple and pear trees in the orchard here on the farm. Malacosoma americanum, the Eastern tent caterpillar, is a regular visitor each spring. We first spot the shimmery webs on a clear spring day. The small ‘tents’ built by the caterpillars quickly…

Read More

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme