Okay let’s get into my autum series project from last weekend. Honestly, it started because I looked out my window, saw all the leaves changing, and thought “Huh, feels like fall. I should do something fall-ish.” Right? Simple enough. Grabbed my keys, jumped in the car, and went straight to the garden center.
Choosing the Fall Stuff
Walked in feeling like I knew what I was doing. Wanted some classic autumn things:
- Cool-colored flowers
- Maybe a small pumpkin thing
- Something leafy and interesting
Ended up standing there forever staring at all the plants. Found these:
- Purple Mums: Big bushy ones with lots of dark purple flowers. Looked tough.
- Ornamental Kale: Weird plant, kinda like cabbage? It’s bright pink and white in the middle. Looked super fall.
- Tiny Decorative Pumpkins: Found pots with actual tiny pumpkins growing! Couldn’t resist. Got one.
- Some Grassy Thing: Saw this tall, wispy grass with reddish tips. Figured it’d add some movement.
Also grabbed a big terracotta pot I found on sale. Had drainage holes, which I remembered was important. Score.
Getting Dirty
Got everything home. Dragged the big pot and the bag of potting mix out to the patio. Step one: Filled the bottom of the pot with some broken pieces of an old pot. Stopped the dirt from washing out. Step two: Shoveled in the potting mix till it was about 2/3 full. Felt like digging a hole at the beach, but less fun. Pressed it down a bit with my hands. Now, time for arranging. That tiny pumpkin plant? Turned out it had a sticker saying it could get really big. Too late now. Put it right in the middle of the pot. Figured it could be the star. Step three: Took the mums out of their plastic pots. Roots were totally wrapped around – big white ball. Gently teased the roots apart a bit with my fingers. Couldn’t really see instructions, just guessed. Plopped one mum on one side of the pumpkin plant. Plopped the other mum on the opposite side. Looked okay. Step four: Squeezed the kale in front of the pumpkin. Its bright center popped against the green leaves. Nice. Step five: Stuck the wispy grass near the back. Added height. Filled in the gaps with the rest of the potting mix, pressing it down firmly around the roots. My hands were filthy. Totally worth it. Finished it off with a good, long soak from the hose.
The Waiting Game (And Lessons Learned)
Stood back and admired it. Looked pretty darn good for my first attempt! Felt super proud. Placed it right by the front door where everyone could see it. Success!… Or so I thought. Went back the next morning.Uh oh. The mums looked… droopy. Like really sad. Turns out I kind of killed them. Not entirely, but definitely stressed them out badly.
- Mistake 1: Didn’t water them well enough BEFORE I tore them out of their nursery pots. Roots were probably drier than I realized.
- Mistake 2: Should have watered the root ball right after planting each one, before moving to the next plant. My thorough soak at the end was too late for some.
- Mistake 3: That tiny pumpkin plant? Yeah, it was labeled for growing large pumpkins. My ‘small decorative pot’ might become a monster plant. Whoops. Guess I’m learning about pumpkins now too.
Gave the whole pot another heavy drink. Fingers crossed the mums perk back up. The kale and the grass still look fantastic though! Lesson learned: Be nicer to the plants when moving them, read the tiny plant tags before buying, and don’t assume tiny pumpkins stay tiny. Still, it’s outside my door, full of fall colors, and I made it myself. Mostly a win!
