The
Chrysanthemum, the most popular plant of the daisy family & is the quintessential
plant of the fall garden. I get this question often: will the mums (cutest
flower nickname) I plant this fall come back next year? Well the bad news is ‘no’
but the good news is the low cost of these plants shouldn’t sway the gardener
one bit. Who isn’t drawn to decorating with corn stalks, hay bales, pumpkins,
gourds & mums!
So, the reason these won’t survive is that
if planted in the ground, they will not have enough time to establish a root
system strong enough for them to survive. (We also leave them in their
containers for decorating purposes – so not a chance there). To complicate
things more, there are two kinds of mums: Hardy (Garden) & Florist mums.
Florist mums are produced for cuttings mainly & will never develop a stolen
that would help produce those necessary roots. The hardy mums when planted in the spring, however, do
stand a chance at coming back for years to come. These contain the stolen for
developing roots. These need at least 6 hours of sun a day, need a well-drained
soil, water them well & provide plenty of mulch for over-wintering. They
need to be pinched in spring/summer to encourage that round shape & not the
leggy look. They may produce blooms in spring but can be pinched off until
summer to produce a fall-fabulous set of blooms. Use beautiful grasses as a
backdrop for your hardy mums. Enjoy the link below that shows some new
varieties. The sky is the limit when it comes to color. My suggestion is to buy
what you are blown away by & not worry about next year!
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