My grocery store, Home Depot, the nursery I visit, are now all selling Mums in abundance. They're gorgeous, all colors, all sizes, and I'd really like to get some. But I have no clue what to do with them. What I mean is some of them come in lovely decorative pots that would look wonderful on my back deck and gracing the entrance to my front door. But are they an annual or perennial? Are they for show only as a container plant, or when they lose their blooms can I plant them in my garden? I see them come out for sale every late summer/early fall, so I assume they're seasonal, but I actually have no clue about them at all. Please will you take a minute or two and enlighten me? moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Hi Ronni, I see the Mums filling the nursery shelves too. The marketing technique is to sell them now, while they are getting ready to bloom. A lot of folks buy them and treat them as annuals to enjoy a blast of Fall color. I have succumbed to temptation several years and bought them to decorate at the end of the season. You can plant them in the ground, and they may or may not survive the winter, depending on the conditions. They are a pretty hardy and tough plant if they like where they are planted. If you use them in containers, they probably won't survive winter. I find in my zone, that if people want their Mums to be perennials, it is best to plant them in the spring so they have plenty of time to get their roots established. Mums are so colorful, it's hard to resist them. Go for it! They are inexpensive, so it's not a huge lose if they don't make it through the winter.
They entice me every year!! I have 2 in pots, one in the back yard and one beside our garage. They have wintered over in zone 6a! They just say "Fall" to me and I love them
They are a fall blooming perennial for most of the southern part of the U.S. If you plant them now, they will have plenty of time to establish roots before your first freeze which is about Oct 28th. If your winter is mild, they will stay green year round, sometimes blooming in late Spring then again in the Fall. To make them bushier with more blooms in the fall, trim them back in Spring before they start budding then they will spend the summer putting on a lot of growth. Mine have stayed green through the winter whether we have snow and ice or not.
I planted a couple last fall. One is doing great! Didn't die back over the winter and has been blooming constantly for months... and still is full of new buds. I plan on getting a few more... I have a container that's now empty that needs something.. and figure I'd try another in the ground.
Love them! They perk up the drab fall here and if I bring them in or cover them on frosty nights they will last until the first of November. They are an annual here for zone 5a/5b. But I but 2 every year one for the deck and one for the veranda. They run 10 to 15 dollars in my area for a pot full.
I just planted some mums a few days ago. One in a pot and one in the bed leading to the front door. I had some mums in another spot for 2 years until I decided I wanted something else there. Mums are technically perennials, the ones I had before could have lasted longer, but as I said, I wanted something else in their spot so I pulled em up. Seeing mums at the garden center while the other plants disappear makes me sad, I dont want summer to end :'(
This is awesome! Thank you SO much for all the information. :-D I'm off to Home Depot to buy some Mums WooHoo!! Well, first of all I'm gonna figure out where I want what...no sense going off half cocked about this! I know I want one or two around the front door area just to brighten that up, and maybe one on the back deck. And I'll definitely plant one or two as well, just to see how they do over the winter. This is very timely, actually, A couple of the container plants I have out front are starting to look kinda faded and worn out, so it's a good time to replace those I think, and mums would be perfect! Maybe I'll take a photo or two of the result.
I found a stunning purple one, huge!!! that is now gracing my front walkway. I bought one for my daughter too, who wanted one to sit on her front porch. I also got a couple of smaller ones that are currently sitting in their pots on the back deck. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave them there, or plant them. Meanwhile they look really pretty right where they are. I think I'll buy a couple more big ones and place them around the front of the house. They sure do add a stunning punch of color!
I only buy the ones that are marked HARDY if I want to plant them in the ground and those will come back. Others do not come back in zone 4 with our cold winter. I am usually so tired out from cleaning out my flower beds for winter, I only put one or two on the front porch in containers. They are beautiful with all the great colors.
I bought 3 about 2 yrs ago of course they were beautiful then died off I thought then I put them in the ground and to my surprize this year they are roaring back full of blooms so am very very happy will get pics today
I went to Lowes the other day looking for mums, I've never had any but my job has tons of fake ones and I started thinking hhmmm those are cute.. haha So I went in search for the real thing and to my avail they aren't out yet here... its still pretty hot here in florida. But I did find some awesome clearance rack plants. But that's a whole nother forum... thanks for the post this helped my curiosity too... I'm ready for some cooler temps, come on fall......
One lady here has a yellow mum planted near her garage that is over thirty years old. That is one true perennial.
