To tempt gardeners to purchase these late-season bloomers, they are often sold in full bloom.
you could alwaysgrow mumsas annuals.
Look for plants with lots of unopened buds to have blooms well into thefall season.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
If you have dogs, cats, or horses, be aware that chrysanthemums are toxic to pets.
Ideally, they are best planted in the spring and allowed to grow in place all season.
That means they are putting an awful lot of energy into blooming, not growing roots.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Spring-planted mums will have plenty of time for root growth.
Many gardeners are surprised that their garden mums start to bloom in mid to late summer.
If you wantfall flowerson your mums, you will need to pinch the plants back periodically throughout the summer.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
give a shot to plant mums where they will receive at least six hours of sun a day.
They like a soil pH slightly on the acidic side.
Water
Mums prefer evenly moist soil.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Water the plant when the top 1 inch of soil feels dry.
Check your pots for drainage holes before committing to using them.
Water should drain freely through the soil and out the bottom of the pot when watering.
Grace Cary / Getty Images
Soil should remain moist, but not soggy.
Soggy soil can cause root rot and other diseases.
Mums can overwinter in the ground, and they do so even better in warmer climates.
The Spruce / David Beaulieu
In warmer climates, consider the effects of heat delay on your mums.
To bypass this problem in hotter climates, look for cultivars with higher heat tolerance.
Fertilizer
It is crucial to feed chrysanthemums during their vegetative phase.
DenKuvaiev / Getty Images
Use a 20-10-20fertilizerwhen planting and during the vegetative growth period.
Superphosphate helps aid root development.
Once established, switch to a 5-10-5 liquid fertilizer.
The general rule of thumb is to begin after all danger of frost has passed.
That way any new growth forced by the nutrients will not be in danger of damage from icy weather.
Established plants should not be fed after July, so new growth is not injured by frost.
For amounts to use, follow product label instructions.
Propagating Chrysanthemums
you’re free to propagate mums by division and cuttings.
The most straightforward and fastest method is division.
Here’s how to propagate mums.
To divide by root division:
Divide plants that have grown in the garden for at least two years.
Younger plants will not have a sufficient root system to survive.
To propagate from cuttings:
This is an excellent method to get a replica of the plant you have.
There are extra steps to propagating from cuttings.
Most mums are completelyroot-boundwhen you get them.
double-check the pot has drainage holes.
Fill the bottom of the new pot with good-quality potting soil.
Gently break up any roots you could, but do not damage the roots.
check that you have soil, not air surrounding the roots.
Tamp down the soil gently.
Give the pot a good watering until it flows out of the bottom of the pot.
Overwintering
Overwintering mums is more of a concern for chilly regions.
First, leave the foliage on the plants until spring.
Do not prune them back after frost has turned them brown.
If you choose to move the plants, do so before the first hard freeze.
However, be on the lookout for the commonaphid,spider mite, andleafminer.
The long list of diseases that can damage mums includes viruses like smut and mosaic.
Mums are also vulnerable to the bacterial disease, crown gall.
Without a little more consistent maintenance, however, your mum’s blooms will onlylast a couple of weeks.
Keep watering your mums but don’t drown the roots.
These are very thirsty plants that need moisture to keep up their energy for flowering.
Add water below the blooms to avoid damaging them.
Here’s how to spot and correct issues.
Leafminers could also cause dried, drooping leaves, which will need to be pruned and destroyed.
Spotted Leaves
Spotted leaves on mums have many causes.
Fungi can cause spots (from yellow to orange to darker colors) on leaves.
Handpick infected leaves and use fungicides to stop the spread.
The sunnier the spot, the better for mums.
However, in the United States, the mum tends to symbolize friendship and happiness.
Chrysanthemum Diseases.Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences.
