Success with Growing Fall Mums
What You Normall See in Garden Centers
The fall mum normally found on benches is a tender perennial and in a USDA zone 4, you’ll rarely get it to successfully overwinter two seasons in a row. Having said that, your garden may have a warm microclimate next to a house or special spot that allows you success with growing fall mums but on average, they won’t.
There are hardy varieties / species and they are listed below along with their hardiness ratings. Normally these are found on the perennial benches of garden centers.
Growing Tricks
The trick to growing fall mums and getting them to flower heavily is to treat them in a specific manner. In general, they like full hot sunshine. Give them shade and they get tall and leggy.
They like regular and deep waterings all summer long. Figure soaking them at least twice a week.
They like to be fed. Feed with compost in the early spring and then give a booster of fish emulsion every two weeks to really pump them along.
The Biggest Growing Trick
Here's the major trick in growing fall mums! Let them grow in the early spring and when they reach 12-18 inches tall, cut them back by half so they are only 6-9 inches tall. This will force the plant to bush out and produce more shoots. (more shoots equals more flowers)
If you don’t cut them back at 18 inches tall, they will continue to grow to 3 feet tall and produce flowers on top of the plant. A reduced number of flowers I note.
Getting More Mums in Less Space
If you want to get double duty from the garden, allow the fall mum to overwinter in the garden where you’ve planted it. In the spring, dig it up and move it to a full sun spot out in the vegetable patch or other area where you can tend it but it won’t take up flowering space.
In the fall, move it back to the garden to fill in bare spots. And then allow it to overwinter there. Repeat.
Propagating
At this digging and moving time, you’ll see all the babies around the main plant.
These can be pulled off the plant and as long as they have a bit of root, they’ll grow into full mums by fall if treated well (see above). I’ll often throw away the woody center in the spring (it’s often dead anyway) and only grow the surrounding babies into full flowering fall mums.
Mums can also be easily propagated in the spring from divisions and or tender tip cuttings.
(See below for hardy variety suggestions)
Hardy Fall Mum
Hardier Fall Chrysanthemums
These are some of the tougher plants on the market.
*The old style of mums such as Chrysanthemum x rubellum ‘Clara Curtis’ and Chrysanthemum ‘Mei-kyo’.
*The newer mums bred in Minnesota including:
*‘Inca’, light bronze-orange, double button, low, early
*’Burnt Copper’, copper orange-bronze, double pompon, tall, midseason
*’Centennial Sun’ bright golden yellow, double decorative,medium height, early
*’Minnautumn’ reddish bronze, formal decorative, low, midseason
*‘Minngopher’ crimson red, decorative, low, late
*‘Minnruby’ ruby red, decorative,low, midseason
*’Snowscape’ white with purple tips,semi-double decorative, low, early
*’Mellow Moon’ cream, semi-incurved decorative, medium, midseason
*’Minnwhite’ white, decorative,low, early
*’Rose Blush’ mauve, decorative, low-medium, midseason
*’Rosy Glow’ deep rosy pink, decorative incurved, medium, midseason
*’Snowsota’ white with cream centers, pompon, low, midseason
If you want to ask a question about growing fall mums, click here
