One aspect of the fall garden that I have grown to love is
chrysanthemums. I say “grown to love” because I could never figure out why you
would buy this beautiful plant, enjoy it for a few weeks and then get rid of
it. After all, they are easy to find in the big-box and grocery stores starting
in late summer and it’s tempting to buy a few plants to dress up the patio. Alas,
it’s still pretty hot here in the mid-Atlantic in September so the flowers don’t
last long – it either gets dried up really quick or the heat fries the flowers.
But then I discovered that you can plant mums in the ground,
and with a little bit of attention over the summer, have beautiful flowers year
after year in the cool fall when everything else has been zapped by frost. They
bloom for a long time in the cooler weather and the colors say “Autumn.”
(Annecdotally I have heard that yellow plants do not live well in the ground.)
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| Hold on to those mums that you are enjoying this fall. You can plant them in the spring and have beautiful flowers for years to come. |
I have collected a few plants over the years and planted them
in the spring with great success. Once the flowers have died, cut back the
plant to about 3 inches and keep alive over the winter. They do need a little
water now and again, but they survive just fine outside on my back steps. Then
in a cool spring day, I plant them in the flower beds.
I get them to bloom again in the fall by cutting them back to
about 2 ½ to 3 inches right around Independence Day. This allows the plants to
continue growing and to form flowers at the right time-when I am wearing a
sweater and admiring the fall leaf color- and not in the heat of August.
There are borers that can infest
the plants, but I have not had this problem to date.
So if your Thanksgiving guests bring a mum, rejoice because
you will enjoy that plant for years to come.
Other Resources for
Mums
Chrysanthemum
Festival at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania runs through November 24, 2018.
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