Mums: The Flowers That Keep On Giving
Stop by your local Super 1 Foods floral department and take note of the potted garden mums on sale this month. Gorgeous, aren't they?
Those pretty flowers make great fall arrangements in the house and on the patio, but that's only half the story.
Mums are perennial plants. That means that even freezing temperatures won't stop them from coming back and growing in your outdoor garden, year after year.
Mums even multiply, so every couple years you can divide the plants. Your original mum plant could produce a dozen offshoots before you know it!
Chrysanthemum is a hard word to pronounce and to spell, so most people call them mums for short. There are hundreds of different varieties, and the garden mums we're featuring in September are moderate-sized, brightly colored jewels.
If you decide to keep them and let them grow, how do you do that? Basically, just remove them from the pot and dig a hole. As long as chrysanthemums have good drainage, they are not picky about soil. They often bloom without any fertilizer, but growth is better if you mulch them lightly in early summer with well-rotted manure or rich compost, or fertilize them lightly once a month with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) until the flower buds form.
You can encourage your mums to make spectacular large and long-stemmed flowers. Stake them and pinch off most of the buds from the lowest section of the stem. The blooms at the stem tips will be stronger and larger, and will make lovely long-stemmed cut flowers.
Don't be surprised if mums that were compact when you bought them in pots a year ago grow much larger when set free to grow in your garden. They're just showing their appreciation for a long growing season on unrestricted roots. Climate plays a role in plant height, too.
To keep them from flopping, support taller mums with thin bamboo or metal stakes before the flowers open. Alternatively, pinch growing tips more often to stimulate development of stockier, bushier plants.
Published 09/05/08
