Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
It's hard to buy groceries this time of year without stepping over pots of them; it's hard to pay a social visit without hopping over them on a porch. Yes, we're talking about hardy mums, whose arrival is often the first indicator that fall has arrived in St. Louis.
If you spend time walking around your neighborhood during the fall, you may notice that by late November, a lot of those mum pots are still out on folks' porches, but the purple and yellow flowers—and even the green leaves—have been replaced by a gnarly, dead husk. They're easy to buy, easy to toss; you just start over next year, and buy another green plastic pot of flowers out in front of the grocery store. But whoa, man: Fast fashion is bad enough; this is like fast gardening (disposable Christmas poinsettas are a similar phenomenon). There are ways of integrating those mums into your landscape, rather than just allowing them to croak in situ. If you would like to plant your mums, or just prolong the life of the ones that stay in a container, here's some helpful info from the Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden:
- "Because of their shallow rooting habit, plants can be dug with a spading fork and easily moved to new locations. This has a particular advantage because mums can be grown for most of the season in a sunny location, then after they have developed flower buds, moved to partially shaded border areas where they will come into full bloom. In cooler locations like this, the flowers are more apt to last for a longer period compared to full sun areas."
- "In the fall, garden centers are selling potted mums which can be transplanted to the garden to fill in bare spots in the flower bed. Mums also lend themselves well to containers and hanging baskets. This is one of the most popular ways to enjoy mums since these containers and basket can be moved to any sunny location around the landscape."
- "Chrysanthemums require well-drained soil and full sunlight to grow and successfully bloom. This means generally 6 hours of sunlight or more each day during the summer period. Plants grown with less light will become weak, spindly and produce few flowers. Avoid locations which are exposed to street or porch lights as this will interfere with the flowering light response to shortened days. The best location is a southern or southeastern exposure preferably against a foundation or wall where additional protection is given from frost. Improve the drainage before planting by elevating the bed with a good mix of garden loam and compost."
- "Any garden soil which is good for growing vegetables will be satisfactory for growing mums. If particularly high in clay, additions of organic matter including peat, composted leaves, rotted manure or straw will improve the drainage and aeration. While working the planting bed, collect enough soil for a soil test and follow the recommendation for amounts of fertilizer to be added. Containerized plants should be planted at the same depth at which they were grown. Do not bury the root ball. This will promote a lack of root aeration and root rot caused by fungal pathogens. Chrysanthemums are shallow rooted and do best if planted high. This means that frequent watering may be necessary during times of high heat and little rainfall. Space plants generally about 18 inches apart. Spreading varieties may require larger spacing."
- "To generate a plant full of flowers and control growth, chrysanthemum require some pinching of the tips. This encourages branching and more compact growth. It also will stimulate more flowers to be produced. Pinching is done by removal of about an inch of the tip of each branch or shoot. This is snapped out with the thumb and index finger. The first pinch should be done when the plant is 6 to 8 inches tall and repeated when new branches become 6 inches tall. A third pinch may be necessary on fast-growing varieties. If plant are not properly pinched, they will become tall, leggy, easily blown over by winds and have few flowers."
For more tips, and Kemper's full fact sheet on Chrysanthemums, click here.
