Chrysanthemums – It’s a Fall Thing!

SCOTT: hey sylvania … read closely … the title above is a lie! shhh, don’t look surprised … it’s true.
MIKE: SCOTT, WHAT’S THE TRUTH THEN?
SCOTT: mike, keep your voice down. can’t you tell i am using all lowercase font to keep this on the down low? i’m trying to tell you that mums are not just a fall plant. but it’s not really a secret to those who have successfully over-wintered a chrysanthemum.
MIKE: that’s true, but it takes dedication to over-winter mums. well, that’s a lie too… (Regular Voicing:) Remember … The “HARDY” mums you purchase today are not the mums grandma propagated. These are hybrids to accommodate the lifestyle of every gardener in the 21st century. Minimal work to keep’em going as long as you trim them before winter and you may get lucky and they survive.
In order to successfully over-winter mums, you must cut them down to six inches around the middle of November, say around Thanksgiving if you are looking for a calendar date. Hardy mums will survive a killing frost and go dormant. They will rebound next spring and last year’s dead stalks will start showing signs of growth at the base. Warning, the new growth will look like chickweed so DO NOT PULL THEM! By the end of May or early June, your plants will reach a height of 10 to 12 inches. Do not let them grow any taller or they will get TOP HEAVY and split. Cut them down to six inches again. This will allow them to give you a beautiful early autumn array of color!
SCOTT: Also, remember to water your mums at the base of the plant, primarily because of the splitting issue mums have if you water from above.
MIKE:  A lot of people just want the crisp autumn color the mums bring.
SCOTT: However, if you had mums successfully over-winter, then bloom times may be messed up.
MIKE: You can also just decorate your landscape with mums and pitch them after the fall season. Treat them as a garden filler as your annuals start to lose their bright colors, just randomly POP-N-DROP a mum. Here’s the secret coding deciphered: “POP” the plant out of the container. “DROP” the plant into the ground. Water and repeat. They will keep your landscape beautiful with their explosion of autumnal pastels or acrylic color. If you need a full yard worth of mums then buying new ones is the way to go. Especially since there are early and late fall bloomers.
SCOTT: So, if you do the Pop-N-Drop approach, it’s basically just watering them. No need to fertilize or deadhead … just lots of water, especially if they remain in the growing container.
MIKE: The grower already added the needed fertilizer for such a short season. When they’re done blooming and go dormant, you can just pull’em out … pot and all … and throw’em away.
SCOTT: If our readers would like to try over-wintering some mums, you can check out our Sept. 2, 2020, episode. It’s season one, episode 19. Or do an internet search, there is plenty of good advice out there. And… it’s not top secret!