Want Your Potted Mums To Last? Plant Them This Way To Keep Them Coming Back

It's hard to miss the sight of chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.) or just "mums" in fall. Drive past any garden center and you'll likely see dozens of these brightly colored gems ready for purchase. Supermarkets and big-box stores might carry mums as well, alongside their display of pumpkins and Halloween decorations. They're lovely indeed, and arrive at the time of year when most flowers have seen their better days. Mums can last 4 to 6 weeks when they are in bloom, so it might be Thanksgiving or later before you have to remove the finally sad-looking plants from your front steps. It's too bad you don't see as many chrysanthemums for sale in the spring, because if you had planted your mums in the spring rather than waiting until fall to purchase them in pots, they would have had a much better chance of coming back year after year.

Perhaps you knew that many chrysanthemums are perennials, and rather than pitching your exhausted mums in the fall you planted them in your garden in hopes that they would come back the next year — only to see your hopes dashed when nothing returned in the spring. There can be a number of reasons for that. Most mums are only hardy in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 9, and many that are specifically bred for cut flowers or flower exhibitions won't make it through the winter. Nor will the potted ones that you're likely to find at the supermarket or garden center in the fall. Mums in pots need a lot of fertilizer to produce all those wonderful blooms. Put those fall garden center mums in your yard, and their shallow roots won't have the ability to draw that much nutrition from the soil, so you might as well treat them like annuals. Your best option for beautiful mums year after year is to plant them in the spring.

For best results, handle perennial mums like you would most perennials. Plant them in spring to give them time to establish their root systems, then care for your mums over the summer as they begin to produce buds and then flowers. Chrysanthemums will survive in part shade, but need full sun to produce their showiest fall display. Plant them in soil that's rich in organic matter and is loose so that it drains easily. Don't over-water your plants, as the roots can rot easily in overly moist soil. Give the plants plenty of room (12 to 36 inches) to promote air circulation and to allow them to spread out, as mums can be subject to powdery mildew and other airborne diseases. Stake any plants that grow tall, as their blooms can cause them to topple over and break.

You have the option of overwintering your mums in pots by bringing them indoors, which is advisable if you live in a particularly cold climate. Just keep the plants in a cool, bright location, and water them sparingly. If you want to plant them in your garden in the fall instead of bringing them indoors, cut the stems back to about 6 inches, find a spot away from strong winds, plant your mums in loose, well-draining soil, apply a thick layer of mulch to help keep the soil warm as long as possible, and don't over-water your plants.