| Botanical Name: | Chrysanthemum x morifolium |
| Life Cycle: | perennial or annual |
| Planting Time: | spring or late summer |
| Height: | 1' to 4' |
| Exposure: | full sun |
| Soil: | rich, well-drained soil with a neutral to acidic pH |
| Hardiness: | zones 4 to 9 |
| Bloom Time: | midsummer to early winter |
| Flower: | yellow, orange, purple, pink, white, fuchsia, red and various shades of autumn colors; single or double blooms in a variety of showy flower heads |
| Foliage: | dark green |
| Propagation: | seeds, cuttings and division (fall or early spring) |
| Suggested Use: | beds, cut flowers, planters, pots, displays, and borders |
| Growing Hints: | In cooler zones, mums can be grown as perennials if cold-hardy cultivars are chosen. Although often planted in late summer and treated as annuals, setting them out in the spring will ensure they have enough time to establish roots to survive harsh winters. Cuttings can be taken in early spring or after flowering and rooted over winter indoors or in a cold frame. Seeds should be sown directly into ground in the spring in the location you want the plants to grow. |
| Interesting Facts: | Mums are photo-sensitive and form flower buds when the length of daylight starts to shorten (usually late July). If you plant them under a streetlight or lamppost they may never set buds.
Advertisement Mums received from a florist tend to be less hardy and take longer to bloom than most garden variety mums and should be planted earlier in the season to avoid killing frosts. |
This page contains the following solutions.
It now is January 5. I have a little surprise for some of you. Once, I told a friend something I had read. She found that something very hard to believe. She replied, 'Doug, don't you know a piece of paper will lay there and let you write anything on it?' Of course, she was right.
If you like fall Mums this tip is for you! This is a pass on tip, it's been recommended to me to trim your mums down to 4 inches on or close to the 4th of July.
Chrysanthemums are the quintessential flowers of fall. From blazing golden yellows to rich shades of mahogany, when it comes to intense color, nothing in the fall garden can match their showy display.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My mum has finally bloomed all over, but now the heads are falling over.This just happened overnight. No it wasn't cold, just a rainy night in the 50s. What do I do?
Cut the dead blooms as soon as they wilt.
Snip through the stem 3 to 5 inches below the old flower so that the bare stem isn't visible.
Frequent dead-blossom removal encourages the mum to keep flowering longer.
Mums flowers.
Step 1
Cut the dead blooms as soon as they wilt.
Step 2
Snip through the stem 3 to 5 inches below the old flower so that the bare stem isn't visible.
Step 3
Frequent dead-blossom removal encourages the mum to keep flowering longer.
This is a good time of the year to "dead head" any blooms and cut back even the leaves, you will get new growth showing thru and the plant will heal itself.
I'm not sure anyone has answered your question as you seem to be saying your mums have recently opened and "overnight" started drooping.
This may be a good time to do some research on how to care for your mum so it will be full of blooms next.
My mum looks dead and it's October. It is a potted mum, I got it early October. I don't understand what to do with it. I have never had one before. It looks dead, no leaves, no flowers, just dry brown sticks. What do I do? I have researched this a lot and have found nothing. I was told to cut the stems an inch from the soil I was also told to throw it out, but I don't know what to do.
By Bridgett S.
The Chrysanthemums you buy in october have been forced to bloom by using artificial light, warmth and a lot of fertilizer. This makes the plant extremely weak.The soil it is grown in is not proper soil either it is only peat and polystyrene.
To save your Chrysanthemum, try to let it stay in a bucket of water until the soil is completely soaked and it sinks to the bottom of the bucket, get it out of the water, change the water and repeat the process one more time to get rid of the extra fertilizer then put it in a larger pot with proper soil. Do not cut it back as the dry parts of the plant protect it from the cold weather. Protect from frost if you put it outdoors and do not water.
If indoors, keep it in a cool place and do not water. New shoots will appear in spring at the feet of the dry parts. Once the weather is warm enough you can cut the dry parts. It will bloom again in late october or early november the blooming being a reaction of the Chrysanthemums to the shortening of day light. Hope you will save it!
I have bought three mums this fall in Indiana. Will transplant them in the ground soon. Will see what happens in the spring!
My chrysanthemums grow nicely and bloom beautifully, and then promptly collapse! Am I supposed to pinch them back as they're growing so they're shorter on the outside of the plant and more supportive?
I pinch mine back every summer when they get to be about a foot tall, to about 4 inches. It's pretty extreme, but they recover nicely and don't tend to flop. If you wait to pinch them after that, you'll lose your flowers. (I've heard that you never should pinch them back after the summer solstice for that reason, but I just go by height) Same for a lot of other flowers like asters and bee balms. If they still get too leggy (mine did this year because we had SO much rain!) I'd stake them with bamboo and string. Sometimes if I want the stakes to be really subtle, I'll reuse bamboo skewers (like you'd make kebabs with) or wooden chopsticks. These can be hidden by the stems and leaves. Hope that helps! Happy gardening.
Keep cutting them back with the hedge clippers so that they never grow taller than 6 " until about July 4th. Then let them go. They should grow alot bushier & stronger. You could always gather them together with a piece of string too.
Linda
When I plant mums, it seems like they just won't keep their color long. What can I do to keep the color longer?
By Pam M.
Check out these photos.
My Grandson sold mums to raise money for his school and mine are now blooming. They sure do help the garden with a last spot of color, just when all the rest of my plants are going to seed.
Chrysanthemums look best when the old blossoms are deadheaded and pruned away. This page tells you how to keep your potted mums looking fresh.
These beautiful flowering plants are native to Asia and northeastern Europe. The chrysanthemum makes a lovely, colorful addition to any garden. This page contains chrysanthemum photos.
Chrysanthemums are easy to grow from cuttings. Place 6 inch cuttings, 3 to 4 inches into a pot filled with a mixture of moistened sand and peat. Plant when roots are established. This is a page about growing chrysanthemum from cuttings.
This is a page about chrysanthemums turning brown. Mums are beautiful annuals that many people enjoy to plant in both containers and in the ground. Here are some tips about caring for them and keeping them looking their best.
Mums are a perennial favorite in many flower gardens, having blooms late into the fall and even winter. Regular pruning ensures seasons of beauty. If you are wondering when you should prune your chrysanthemums, this is the guide for you.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I planted one mum 2 years ago behind my mail box. It has quadrupled in size since I bought it. And the other mum is along my garage and has reproduced another plant.
