Second Hand Flowers

Last spring I was walking out of the grocery store the week after Easter, and I noticed a huge HUGE display of lilies sitting by the front doors.  The sign said $1.50 each.  They were large potted lilies with several blooms in each pot.  I thought the sign must be wrong.  No way could those giant flowers be $1.50 each.  Maybe it was supposed to say $15.00 each?  I found myself back at the store the next day and saw the same display with the same sign, so I decided to check it out.  I grabbed four pots and carried them to the register.  Sure enough they really were on clearance.  I figured $6 for four pots of beauty was a great deal.

That night I went to a birthday party for two friends of mine.  I had planned on bringing them each a bag of their favorite candy.  On my way out the door I remembered that one of them was on a diet, and candy would not be a kind gift.  I panicked for about 30 seconds until I remembered the flowers.  I loaded up two pots and took them as gifts.

The next day I went to visit my grandmother and decided to bring her a potted flower too.

The fourth lonely plant sat outside my front door for about a week while I debated about what to do with it.  Finally I decide to keep it.  I plopped it right down in the ground in front of my front window.  It was nearing the end of it's life and not looking too good, but I figured it would be nice when it came back next year.  Four months later I discovered a beautiful surprise.  My flower was blooming again!  I hadn't expected to see it again until next spring, but it came back at the end of summer and was a wonderful little surprise.   Definitely worth the $1.50.

Marcia