Mums

Nothing says fall like chrysanthemums, called mums for short, and their rich and varied colors are a delight to any eye. You can take your pick from tiny buttons to big, lavish flower heads, in yellow and countless other hues. Just as your garden is starting to look sad at the end of the summer, in step mums to bring happy color, and they don’t mind a little cold either and have few pests. They are hardy too, because rodents and deer typically don’t find them tasty due to their fragrant foliage. But if you’ve ever failed to see your mums come back the spring after you planted them, here’s why: While Here's how to grow and enjoy these "sometimes" perennials. What kind of mums should you plant? There are garden mums, also called hardy mums, and florist mums. Garden mums thrive in zones 4 to 9, while florist mums—like the ones you find at grocery store in gift pots—are only hardy to USDA Hardiness zones 7 to 9 (find your zone Do mums come back every year? Maybe! It depends on when you plant them. If you plant them in the fall, that's often too late because they’re putting energy into blooming, not building roots. You may get lucky if you plant them early in the fall and if you choose plants in tight bud, rather than plants in full bloom. You'll also have better luck with fall planting in warm climates. For anywhere else in the country, plant in the spring if you want them to return every year. If your mums start to outgrow their place in your garden or get overcrowded by othe...

Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. How to plant and care for mums Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter Snapchat icon A ghost. Snapchat Fliboard icon A stylized letter F. Flipboard Pinterest icon The letter "P" styled to look like a thumbtack pin. Pinterest Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link Read in app Chrysanthemums, known as mums, are a hallmark of fall. They offer color and new life to your garden as the rest of the plants are slowly tapering off. "Many annuals at this time can look stressed," says Chris Conant, vice president and co-owner of Some like to treat their autumn mums as a slightly hardier bouquet or like fall décor, where the pot is put inside and tossed when the blooms fade. There's nothing wrong with this, and if you go this route, you won't have to feed or fertilize your mums. However, planting them outside will ensure a longer, more colorful lifespan. Insects and deer don't love them, meaning they don't require as much pest control. Plus, these beautiful blooms come in a range of colors. Are mu...

• العربية • Asturianu • Azərbaycanca • تۆرکجه • Basa Bali • বাংলা • Башҡортса • Беларуская • Български • བོད་ཡིག • Bosanski • Català • Cebuano • Čeština • Dansk • Deutsch • डोटेली • Eesti • Ελληνικά • Español • Esperanto • Euskara • فارسی • Français • Gaeilge • Galego • 한국어 • Հայերեն • हिन्दी • Hrvatski • Ido • Bahasa Indonesia • Italiano • עברית • Jawa • ಕನ್ನಡ • ქართული • Қазақша • Kernowek • Коми • Kurdî • Кырык мары • Latina • Latviešu • Lietuvių • Livvinkarjala • Lombard • Magyar • Malagasy • മലയാളം • मराठी • مصرى • Bahasa Melayu • 閩東語 / Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄ • Монгол • မြန်မာဘာသာ • Nederlands • नेपाली • 日本語 • Nordfriisk • Norsk bokmål • Norsk nynorsk • Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ • پنجابی • پښتو • Перем коми • Picard • Polski • Português • Română • Русский • Scots • Shqip • Sicilianu • Simple English • Slovenčina • Српски / srpski • Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски • Sunda • Suomi • Svenska • Tagalog • தமிழ் • Taqbaylit • తెలుగు • ไทย • Türkçe • Удмурт • Українська • اردو • Vahcuengh • Tiếng Việt • Walon • Winaray • 吴语 • 粵語 • 中文 The Chinese character for "chrysanthemum" Chinese name 菊花 Literal meaning "chrysanthemum-flower" Transcriptions júhuā chü 2-hua 1 jioh-ho gūk-fāa guk 1-faa 1 kak-hue( kiok-hue( Korean name 국화 菊花 Transcriptions Gukhwa Kukhwa Japanese name 菊花 きくか Transcriptions kiku ka Chrysanthemums ( k r ɪ ˈ s æ n θ ə m ə m/), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, Chrysanthemum in the Description [ ] The Chrysanthemum are The compound [ citation needed] The fruit is ...

Colorful Combinations With almost every color of the rainbow available, chrysanthemums can enhance any garden or container. Plant breeders are even working on perfecting a true blue! Mum bloom shapes and sizes are quite spectacular, with a wide range of sizes including the common small cushion mum to the giant spider mums. Pruning and Maintenance Mums are interesting plants because you can manipulate their flower size and shape with careful pruning. One of the most common ways to use this to your advantage is to keep plants pinched and pruned back in spring before the Fourth of July. Simply pinching the early buds can potentially double the amount of buds your plants will grow in the fall. If you're growing mums for cut flowers, try disbudding, which removes all of the side buds to encourage one central bloom. Another interesting pruning technique is called the thousand-bloom chrysanthemum, or ozukuri, which grows one extremely large plant and carefully trains the blooms to create a giant, uniform mound of blooms. Chrysanthemum Overview Description Planted for their spectacular blooms that come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, mums are the perfect fall-blooming plant. Their showy flowers appear in late summer and continue into the fall, creating dense mats of color. If you're planning on overwintering them, plant mums in late spring to give them time to develop roots. Genus Name Chrysanthemum Common Name Chrysanthemum Plant Type Perennial Light Part Sun, Sun Heig...

AlpamayoPhoto / Getty Images When Should I Move Potted Mums Outside? Depending on the weather, Labor Day weekend is a good indicator for when to move your potted mums outside and start planning your fall gardening and decorating. If it's still sweltering, you may want to wait a few weeks, putting your mums out in mid-to-late September. When the weather shifts to more chilly conditions, and you can feel a hint of fall in the air, you know it's time to set out the pots. If you're shopping for plants at your local garden center, select mums with many closed bloom buds to ensure the plants will have longevity. Another tip is to buy 'hardy mums' because these have a better chance of withstanding the winter elements than florist mums. Can I Keep My Potted Mums Over Winter? According to The Grumpy Gardener, "If you want to plant out your potted mums, do so this fall. Don't leave them in pots for the winter. Pick out a sunny spot with fertile, well-drained soil that contains a lot of organic matter. Mums steadily spread but tend to die out in the centers. So every couple of years, lift the clump in spring, discard the old, woody center, divide the remainder into three to four plants, and replant." Nothing ushers in autumn like mums. Slip them between the coleus from your summer pots for a big show of color. Photo: Van Chaplin When Do Mums Bloom? Many mums bloom throughout the fall, but some species will provide blooms from late spring through the fall. The early bloom may emerge i...

Credit: Lowe's / Home Depot / Reviewed Mums' resilience in cold weather makes them popular in the fall. Mums are those bushy flowers with dozens of petals that pop up everywhere in the fall because they generally bloom until there’s a 32F frost. Mums come in shades of There are • Florist mums: These are really cut flowers in a pot. They’ve been bred for color, not cold hardiness. They’ll make your porch or patio pretty through the fall, but they won’t survive the winter. These are the mums you’ll find at supermarkets, farm stands, and florists. • Garden mums: Bred to survive winters. You can find garden mums at places like the garden centers at Look for mums with plenty of flower buds. They’re not going to grow new flower buds before frost. How to care for mums in pots Credit: Getty Images / iStock / ArtmannWitte Full sun, evenly moist soil, and avoiding frost are key to caring for potted mums. All types of mums need the same care as long as they’re planted in containers. Put the container in full sun if possible for the healthiest possible mums. They’ll be fine if they just get morning or afternoon sun, but full sun is better. Also, make sure to keep the soil evenly moist. Dry soil makes chrysanthemum flowers If you see frost in the weather forecast, bring your mums indoors! Even if the mums survive, frost can destroy the flower buds that haven’t bloomed. Deadhead (cut off) the spent blooms to make your mums look fresh and encourage continued flowering. Credit: Lowe's / B...

Water Mums Based on Their Growth Cycle While established mums can be watered as little as once per week, younger plants need more frequent watering to encourage bigger and brighter blooms. "This is especially important when the plant begins flowering, because if the chrysanthemum wilts, it can lose all its blooms," says Benjamin Godfrey, garden manager at Mulch Garden Beds Once autumn temperatures begin to fall, it's a good idea to blanket or mulch your garden beds with old leaves or wood chips. You should apply 4 to 5 inches around the base of each plant. "Once the ground freezes, the protective mulch remains around the base," Mast says. This step will keep your mums safe from future cold weather extremes. Pinch Your Mums The secret to creating a fuller plant and maximizing flower production is pinching the stems of your mums, which should occur during springtime. "Every time they grow 5 to 6 inches, pinch the tip of each shoot about 2 to 3 inches down the stem, just above the leaves," Godfrey says. "Each pinched stem will produce more stems, which can be pinched again when they're another 5 to 6 inches tall." Continue this process into July, when the growth cycle naturally slows down. Deadhead Your Mums If you aren't removing the old foliage and spent blooms from your mums, you're hindering their growth. "Another important way to keep your mums looking good all fall is to deadhead the spent flowers before they're completely dead," Godfrey says. When you see dead or disco...