Chrysanthemums Are the #4 for Winter Flowers of North Texas

Ranking at number four of winter flowers for North Texas are the Chrysanthemums. Some of you refer to them just as mums. Beating out flowering kale for the number four spot, mums are a sought after flower by North Texans. The two most popular colors are yellow and orange followed by deep violet, ruby red and lavender.

During the springtime you may not know the mums are there as you drive by through North Texas. This is most likely because North Texans have dead-headed their mums to come out fuller for the fall and winter months. Dead-heading is a practice of removing budding flowers to promote more flowers later on during the year. You can do this with other flowers, but unless you know it will work on another flower you may be preventing them from blooming at all.

Texas gardeners are all googly-eyed when it comes time to plant new flowers. You can find the home improvement stores and nursery gardens packed with shoppers eagerly inspecting what all is for sale. Mums, cyclamen, pansies and dianthus all sell rather quickly starting from mid-September on through October. You will need to get up early to even beat the landscapers to the stores. Placing an order for what you want is a wise idea at this time of the year.

Chrysanthemums can be grouped together or planted as independent bushes. These bushy flowers can get up for four feet high and wide under the right conditions. Amending the soil with peat and perlite helps them immensely. Mums like water but do need the soil they are growing in to be well drained. Full-sun is best for mums. They can thrive in partial shade but will not grow as full as they could.

Growing chrysanthemums in pots is a typical setting in many gardens of North Texas. Starting from a small pot work your way into a larger one as it grows bigger over time. Mums can get diseased pretty easy like roses. They need much TLC. Watch out for aphids, spiders, and ant beds as these are the most common pests next to grub worms.

With many colors to choose from in chrysanthemums, you can brighten up that blah green garden of yours into a splash of a rainbow. Keep in mind how large these plants can grow so you are not overcrowding other flowers or bushes. Growing mums is a wonderful past-time in North Texas.