Mum's the word

I've been really taken aback by the behaviour of our dwarf chrysanthemums, otherwise known as mums. We bought 2 pots of pristine white ones to replace the marguerites in a beautiful glazed blue pot. The marguerites flowered valiantly all summer but were really well past their best and as my mother (also a mum!) is coming next week, I wanted to put something else in.

So we potted up the white mums and they looked just as they should for about a week and then, almost overnight, they started to turn mauve. I had no idea that flowers could behave just like leaves in autumn. You learn something new in the garden almost every day. I have no problems with this colour but I do hope they will keep looking lovely for at least the next week or so!