Caring for Your Mums
GARDEN & HOME
Growing and Maintaining Your Chrysanthemums
From Our Garden To Yours, Expect Success With Stutzmans
Mums are also our September plant of the month!
Garden mums provide a tremendous splash of fall color. The name “chrysanthemum” is derived from the Greek chrysos (gold) and anthos (flower). Flower color ranges from pure, clear yellows to gold, orange, bronze, deep red and maroon. White, pink, violet and purple flowers are also available. A full artistic palette of fall colors are available to decorate your landscape. Mums can be planted in mass plantings for an “Oh, WOW!” splash of color, or as individual plants for delightful touches of color around the yard.
The fall flowering garden mum is native to China and is a member of the sunflower family of plants. All chrysanthemums are long night plants (short day), that is, they require long periods of uninterrupted darkness for the flower buds to develop. Garden chrysanthemums have been bred so that they will flower after nights have become long enough.
Don’t prune the plants back in fall. Research has found that garden mums survive the winter better if the old foliage is left standing through the winter.
Mulching is the best insurance for overwintering mums. It helps keep the soil uniformly cold after it has become frozen, thus eliminating the alternate freezing-thawing cycle and the resulting soil heaving. Apply 4 to 6 inches of straw, pine needles, or other mulching material in late November or early December when the soil surface freezes. Leaves are less suitable as a mulch because they tend to pack solid when wet.
Summer Care
Mums should be fertilized each spring when the shoots first begin to emerge through the soil. A dry fertilizer, such as Milorganite, should be sprinkled over the soil surface at a rate of 11⁄2 pounds per 100 square feet of bed space. Mums should be fertilized each spring when the shoots first begin to emerge through the soil. A dry fertilizer, such as Milorganite, should be sprinkled over the soil surface at a rate of 11⁄2 pounds per 100 square feet of bed space. The extra nitrogen in the 1–1–1 ratio is necessary early in the season to support the vegetative growth of the plant. The mums should be fertilized a second time in mid- to late July with a fertilizer at a 1 pound per 100 square foot rate. Pinching off the end (1 inch) of each stem when they are 6 inches tall and again each time the new branches have grown out 6 inches, will produce bushy well-rounded plants. Repeat this procedure until July 4, then let the branches grow out and bloom. If the plants become overcrowded, they should be dug and divided in early spring at the first sign of growth.
*Information courtesy of Kansas State University and Iowa State University
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When are mums coming in? When should they be planted?
We will be putting out our mums in August. Best time for planting is immediately after purchase.
What about if you olant mums in a container?
Not planting them in the ground risks a greater exposure to frost and freezing temperatures in the winter. That can result in the mums not returning next spring.
I can’t wait to see all your mums