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How to Grow Chrysanthemums
A little frost last night, perhaps a dusting of snow? What are those brightly colored
flowers doing shining through such a cold environment....and unharmed at that.!? Most
likely it's a hardy mum, or Chrysanthemum as they are formally called. Mums are indeed
hardy and usually among the last flowers in your garden.
Mums are popular in in both the spring and the fall. They are "forced" into blooming in
the spring inside greenhouses and sold at garden stores for Easter and Mother's Day
Gifts. These same plants are then placed in flower gardens, cut back and bloom again in
the fall.
There are hundreds of varieties of mums. Mums are a member of the daisy family.
How to Grow:
While you can grow Chrysanthemums from seed or cuttings, almost everyone buys
young plants from their local garden store. They can also be propagated by dividing and
separating them.
Hardy mums get their name because they are easy to grow. Like other plants, they reward
you if placed in the best location of your garden. But, they also thrive well in less than
ideal conditions.
While mums will grow well in most parts of your garden, they prefer full to partial sun
and good, well drained soil. If you are short on space, place them in almost any area and
they will grow.
Chrysanthemums have shallow roots. So, keep them well watered near the surface. Apply
a balanced fertilizer on a regular basis.
Pinch back the growth to promote a bushy appearance. As fall arrives allow the growth to
develop. Switch to a fertilizer higher in Phosphorous to promote blooming and you will
be rewarded with big and colorful blooms that will shine in your garden long after your
other plants have succumbed to frost and age.
Chrysanthemums make excellent cuttings for indoor vases. Just check for bugs that like
to harbor in the leaves.
Mums will survive winter in most zones. If you are in a more northerly climate, apply a
thick layer of mulch over the plant after the leaves have died off.
Insect and Disease Problems:
Disease problems are few, one of the reasons why these plants are easy to grow.
Insects like to nest in the leaves in the fall, especially aphids.If it is a problem, spray or
dust lightly with insecticide or insecticidal soap.
The Versatile Mum
When fall arrives, it's hard not to regret the passing of all the summer blooms we love so
much: pompon dahlias, Shasta daisies, African daisies, little zinnias, asters, coreopsis,
and calendulas.
But take heart, for the fall garden offers all these flower shapes from just one plant, the
chrysanthemum. Hundreds of hardy cultivars provide an array of colors and bloom
shapes, making mums the divas of the autumn garden. The blooms last for weeks, not
days, and the sheer number of flowers per plant will convince anyone that this flower
really likes to show off. Add the mum's impressionistic abilities to its longevity, and you
have a plant that pulls its weight in the garden.
Because of their tight, mounded habit and stunning bloom cover, garden mums are
perfect for mass plantings. To get the maximum effect from far away, stick to only one or
two colors. Another possibility is to arrange a gradual transition of related colors. Look
around your yard to see what colors would best complement the existing landscape. If
you decorate for fall with pumpkins and gourds, choose orange, bronze, yellow, and
creamy white mums. If you have a lot of evergreen plants that provide a backdrop of
varying shades of green foliage, try bright pinks, lavenders, pure whites, or reds. With
such bold colors, a large grouping of mums can excite even the most drab of fall
landscapes.
Garden mums also make great container plants. They're just right for popping into a clay
pot, lining up in a row in a window box, or placing in the center of a mixed container
with trailing foliage plants all around. Many landscape plants can provide a backdrop for
groupings of mums. For texture, choose ornamental grasses or the neon purple berries of
the beautyberry shrub (Callicarpa). You also can pair mums with smoke tree (Cotinus),
variegated sedum, the deciduous dwarf Fothergilla gardenii, or almost any conifer.
To get the most from your mums, choose cultivars according to their bloom times. It also
helps to coordinate bloom time with the length of fall in your location. Most garden
mums will withstand a light fall frost, but finding the right cultivars will provide the
longest possible amount of pleasure.