Chrysanthemums are great flowers to take over when the summer bloomers are beginning to fade. The mums with their wide range of colors will keep the garden full of blooms through fall until they finally succumb to the frosts at the onset of winter. While mums are not difficult plants there are a few points you need to watch and this article by Kathy Woodard which I found on The Garden Glove website warns of the five mistakes that people make and how to avoid them.
Mums, or Chrysanthemums, are one of the most popular and classic fall flowers for the garden of all time. With good reason! They come in a wide array of colors, last well into frost, and keep a dying landscape looking fresh and colorful while we ready ourselves for letting go of the growing season. But there are some tricks to growing them, and some of them may catch you off guard. Here are the five mistakes most people make growing Mums, and how to correct them! Mistake #1-
Planting Mums from the gift section.
If your Mums come in a foil wrapped pot, I have news for you. It?s gonna die. Chances are a well meaning friend gave you this plant in late fall as a gift, and intended for you to plant it in your garden for next year. The problem with that is that gift plants are grown entirely in a greenhouse. Which means, they have never been conditioned to living outdoors. Add to that the fact that nights are growing cold, and frost is just around the corner, and there is no way these plants can harden off before winter sets in. Just enjoy them on a sunny window sill. Then let them go. 🙂 Then look for nursery grown plants called ?hardy? Mums. And get them in the ground no later than early fall. (And spring is better!). Mistake #2 ?
Forgetting to Feed! Mums are heavy feeders, and they are even more voracious if they are planted in containers. Feed, feed, feed!
I am a keen gardener and so created Garden Pics and Tips for people who love gardens and enjoy great pictures of plants and gardens. Also covered are practical tips on all aspects of gardening.
