I bought a chrysanthemum plant with golden yellow flowers last week.  It made a patch of warm autumn colour on our shady terrace, just outside the kitchen window.  Earlier this week I moved the plant to hang outside the living room window, to bask in the sun on clear days and to carry the colours of sunshine on into the early dusk.  Then, passing the flower market on a particularly grey day, I treated myself to a second gold chrysanthemum in full flower.  The not quite matching pair hang either side of the window rail now, greeting me each morning with an extravagant burst of colour, whatever the weather.

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Growing up with slow gardening, raising plants from seed, cuttings or young, nursery stock, I’ve never quite got used to the instant pleasure of buying seasonal plants when they are already in flower.  A few years ago, when my elderly mum’s horticultural horizons had started to contract, I took her to the local  garden centre to choose some plants for the pots outside her back door. Overwhelmed by the variety of plants on offer, she dithered happily between this one or that saying ‘I feel like a child in a sweetshop!’

I know that feeling.  The chrysanthemum wasn’t a great extravagance – about the price of a cinema ticket or one main course in the local bistro – but what a treat!

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In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Treat.”