Trivial Einstein<p>Ok, on to happier matters.</p><p>You may recall that I purchased a poor bedraggled plant from the clearance section at my local supermarket because I wanted to save it from the dumpster. It had two sad flowers which had grown kind of sideways, and it looked like it needed a bit of TLC. No label, so I had no idea what kind of flower it was. And I have historically not been a good keeper of plants. But it cost a dollar, and I figured I'd bring it home and at least let it live out whatever life I could give it, rather than it being consigned to the garbage as it doubtless would have been. I have no pictures of it from this period unfortunately.</p><p>He was christened Robert by my spouse as a joke, and I tried to remember to water him, and he lived on my porch through the summer. He got plenty of sun and rain, and at a certain point I also set myself a reminder to water him, and he seemed to be doing so well that I hazarded transferring him from his tiny pot into a larger one, and instead of dying, Robert throve like a champion. His flowers died, but he put out a bunch of new leaves and filled in his new pot. That's the first picture.</p><p>As with most flowers, I assumed that Robert was an annual, so I debated what to do as cooler weather set in, but in the end, I brought him into our back room which, while not quite as nice and sunny, gets a decent sun level and isn't freezing. I kept watering Robert through the end of the autumn, and while he seemed to have slowed down a little, he didn't immediately die, so as winter took hold I decreased my watering regimen a little but otherwise kept to the status quo.</p><p>At Christmas, my spouse did a show wherein they were given a plant by a castmate named Sean, so Robert, still chipper if with perhaps more dead leaves, was joined by Sean the plant in the back room. I kept watering, fully expecting Robert to eventually give up the ghost. After all, he's an annual. They only live for a year. Surely they know that.</p><p>Spring has pretty much set in at this point. Sean is doing fine, and as soon as the weather settles down he will be moved to a larger pot and possibly put outside. And Robert... About a month ago, Robert seems to have woken up again, because he put out a bunch of new leaves. And last week, I thought I saw something which looked like a bud. Sure enough, a few days ago when I came in to water him, the second picture greeted me.</p><p>Yes, Robert has blossomed anew. And he's going outside again as soon as it seems safe to do so. Maybe by May. So that'll be nice. Hooray for Robert and my ability to keep from killing him!</p><p>Now, my question: I know bupkis about plants. I believe Robert to be a gerbera daisy, as that's what his flower and leaves resemble to me. But my spouse insists that the flowers are too small and the leaves aren't right. Can anyone help? I can take better pictures if necessary.</p><p>Also, if I wanted to feed him, any suggestions? He's been making do with tap water and hand-me-down soil for almost a year now, and I wonder if maybe he'd like a bit of nutrition.</p><p><a href="https://beige.party/tags/Bloomscrolling" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Bloomscrolling</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Fedihelp" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Fedihelp</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Flowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Flowers</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FlowersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>FlowersOfMastodon</span></a></p>