Chrysanthemums
By: Meriel Bradley
Many of the “mums” or Chrysanthemums you see are sold in the fall as annuals. These won’t survive the winter even if you plant them in the ground but do add a beautiful display and a great splash of colour to your fall garden. I like to add them to hanging baskets to replace my summer baskets.
When choosing mums as an annual plant, be sure to choose plants with mostly closed buds and healthy foliage. Plants that are already in full bloom will not last very long. Also, be sure to purchase them when the weather has cooled later in September to extend the flowering as warm weather speeds up flowering and then flower fading.
For hardy Chrysanthemums, plant in the spring in a location that gets full sun and has well-drained soil.
You can pinch them back from late spring to mid-summer to make it bushier and delay flowering until the fall when many of your summer flowers have faded.
Mums do best in moderate climate conditions. Hot summers can cause the plants to struggle, and cold regions with a hard winter can cause your plant to die plants unless they are covered with a deep layer of mulch. However, you can decide to treat them as annuals as I do for that amazing punch of colour in the Fall.
Zone
5 – 9
Height:
2 – 3 feet
Light:
sun/part shade
Quick Facts
Treat as an annual if purchasing in the fall
Choose plants with closed buds and healthy leaves when buying in the fall
Purchase annual mums in cool weather to extend your enjoyment of the flowers
You can plant in spring in moderate climates and treat your mums as a perennial
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