Fall Care of Chrysanthemums or Mums

The Chrysanthemum (I'll call them Mums from now on) is a beautiful blooming perennial. A perennial is a plant that will come back year after year. Those are exactly the kinds of plants that I love. Not exactly plant and forget, as all flowers take a certain amount of care.

Mums come in a variety of beautiful colors. Mums are an extremely hardy plant, and are especially easy for beginning gardeners to grow. I have had Mums in every yard of the homes where I have lived. The plants will normally grow from 2 to 3 feet tall, and over the years will spread out. After a couple of years, you can separate Mums to be transplanted into different parts of your garden. I have had my Mums bloom at least twice during the year. Normally you will see the best blooms in the fall as the summer days begin to shorten.

If you pinch off your plants during the spring when the plant reaches about 6 inches, this will encourage the plant to become bushy, and allow them to have more blooms. You can pinch the plant back about every two weeks. You will not want to continue pinching off the plant during the summer, as this will allow the plant to go into full bloom for the fall season.

Mums will usually continue to bloom in the fall until the first frost of the season. When your Mums are blooming, and you get an early frost, you can cover your blooms to protect them to extend their blooming time.

Once the weather gives you a hard frost then it will be time to mulch your Mums well so that they will survive the winter. They will go into a dormant state. I pull up plenty of mulch around the plant from my flower bed to help protect them during the winter months. I usually wait until spring before I cut off all the dead branches. I keep them mulched year round so that the mulch will help to keep the ground moist during the hot dry summer time.

After you've mulched them there won't be anything to do until spring time. You'll want to make sure that they get plenty of water during dry times, and fertilize them once a month in the summer and spring. I usually use an all purpose plant fertilizer that I get from Wal-Mart or Lowes. There isn't any particular brand that I like. I just use whatever is cheapest.

I have Mums planted in a pot that come back year after year. If things get over crowded in the pot, I just take the Mums out of the pot, separate them to plant some in another spot, place new soil in the pot, and replant that pot with some of the same Mums.

Soon your local garden shop will begin to have loads of Mums for you to choose from. Some of them will have big blooms that look like a pompoms, and others will look more daisy like. They will bring a fresh look to your flower beds and pots. Once planted they will bring you years of joy and blooms. I've got a spot all picked out in my garden just waiting for the next batch of Mums that I want to plant. I think this year I am going to plant purple colored Mums. That's my favorite color.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemum

http://landscaping.about.com/od/landscapecolor/p/chrysanthemums.htm