Hardy Mum
Hardy mum winter survival care tips
I had saved my hardy chrysanthemums in their original plastic pots and put the potted plants into the ground to over-winter. Now, I want to remove the plants from the plastic pots and transplant directly into the soil. My question is: When is the best time to do this? I live in Zone 4(Chicago area).
Not many of the “hardy” potted mums bought in autumn in zone 4 will survive the winter. Even though they are called hardy mums, their hardiness can vary. Cold winters and poor draining soil are some of the factors that have an affect on their survival. In addition, when growing mums for the market, growers pay more attention to color, shape and abundance of flowers than to cold hardiness. The result is a beautiful plant with a root system that cannot support it.
Planting in the fall, doesn’t always work because there may not be enough time to develop a good root system, so for any chance of success plant in early fall. Best time to plant hardy mums is in the spring. In your case, try transplanting in the spring, when the soil is workable; if any viable roots wintered over, you should see some green shoots emerge when the weather warm up. Otherwise, buy hardy mum plants in the spring and see how big they get by autumn.
To help hardy mums survive the winter outdoors cut them back down to 6″ after they are done blooming leaving some of the stems to trap winter snow for insulation. Also mulch your mums after a hard freeze with several inches of straw, pine needles or evergreens, the added insulation will protect the root system. Avoid using leaves as they tend to mat down and add little insulation.
No related posts.
robin leger
I was wondering what the botanical name is for garden mums.
I had beautiful mums planted and the deer nibbled the flowers off and more buds are forming. can I spray the plants with deer repellant without hurting the plant?? Also I planted Missouri Primroses in the fall,, which are perennial, will they sprout in the spring?? thanks for your help.. thanks for your help on getting my Peace lily to bloom for me with the right fertilizer you recommemded’ middle number higher then the first’
Winterize hardy mum
We have received potted mums as a gift. We are in Connecticut. They are currently in beautiful, large ceramic planters and these are outside on our front patio. We would like to care for them properly over the winter so that we can plant them in the garden in the spring. We have either dark rooms, or rooms windows that the sun comes through so strongly it burns anything we’ve put anywhere near them. Would it be too cold for them to winter in the garage ? There are windows and the garage is attached, so nothing in there actually freezes.
What else do we need to do? trim them? water ?
Thank you.
I planted some hardy mums in pots with coleus. After a few weeks, the blooms died and I haven’t had any more, but the plant seems to be healthy. How can I get them to bloom again?
I recently received a potted mum from a garden center – just the spring flower displays of potted plants. Since it has absolutely no information on the pot to identify the mum, is there any way for me to know if the mum is a hardy variety or an annual? I want to plant it outdoors permanently, but if it is an annual it might turn out to be wasted effort.
My fiance gave me a mum for Mother’s Day. It actually has three plants in the pot: one yellow; one pink; and one light purple — very pretty. We live in southwest Missouri. Can I plant it outside?
I have bought 2 mums from a popwarner football fund raiser..can i plant these mums into a pot then into the ground after flowering and hope they’ll come back or will this lessen the chances and they should be directly into the ground first…thank you
Hi,
I bought some mum plants from Lowe’s. They were v.pretty when I bought them but as the days passed they lost their color and they no more look healthy. I have other mums that I planted last year and I managed to keep them alive thru the winter by keeping them in the apt.Today to my horror, I discovered that the plants I got recently have some insects and worms on them. I don’t know what pesticide I shud use… I am worried that it may spread to the other plants I have…I live in CA
Hi, Thanks for the response… the insects r really tiny… smaller than mustard seeds.I’ve seen such insects on rose plants back home…. and there r some brown worms in them too…The plants r outdoor but I may have to keep them inside during winter. I have a toddler at home and am 8 months pregnant.. Anyways, I am clueless ..I don’t have the receipts either…Reema
Pinching Mums
I want to buy hardy mums to plant in my front yard next year where there is currently grass. 3 questions: When is the best time to buy a hardy mum? When I dig up the grass/dirt to plant the hardy mums, will there be a regrowth of grass? How do you pinch a hardy mum?
I got a Pelee Mum for my birthday in Sept. and I was wondering if I can plant it outdoors now or do I have to wait. I live outside of Portland in Oregon. Thank you for your help.
Hardy Mum
My mums were eaten last year is there anythign I can spray or put on them in them to protect them.
I live in southern new jersey , should i leave my mums in pots now until next spring.
I live in South Carolina and received a mum in a pot as a gift about a week ago. I would like to transfer it from the pot and plant it my yard. When is it ok to do this or should I leave in pot until a certain time?
I live in Southwest Arizona and would like to plant the potted mums purchased for Halloween outside in the ground now. Will they survive and bloom again next fall?
I bought four mums for display thru the autumn, in pots. Now they are “dead” in the pots. I was told they will come back. What do I do with them. Keep in pots and wait till spring to transplant or transplant now? I live in southern Indiana?
In fall of 2007 we planted Hardy mums from pots we purchased at the nursery. They did well and in spring of 2008 we saw green foliage under the deadness (for lack of a better term) and the old plant just sort of pulled out of the ground uncovering the new mums. We allowed them to do their thing and by fall these massive mums were 4 feet in diameter and bloomed like crazy. Beautiful. This year the green growth is appearing, however the old dead plants are so large and rooted that when we tried pulling them up the new growth was attatched and its damaging the plants. I know so little about doing this I am sort of stuck. Also, how do I keep them from becoming so huge and taking over my flower bed? Thank you in advance.
I have a mum from my grandfather’s funeral that I would love to plant and care for properly so it lives on in his memory. Right now it is in a plastic planter, but would like to transplant it to the ground.
It has dark purple flowers, and three plants that go into the dirt. There are no markers in the plastic tub to identify the mum – is this an annual or a perennial?
I live near Des Moines, Iowa (which I looked up to be zone 5a).
If someone could tell me how to best care for this plant, I would greatly appreciate it.
I live in central illinois and we have purple and yellow mums on our football field ends. Our Purple ones come back but the yellow ones do only about 1/4th of the time if not less. Does color play a factor? What could be the problem?
Spring blooming mums
I have a green house in NC and have been using cuttings (Mums)to get more.
Some of my mums are flowering now. (daisy and some cushion and Bonsia)
Will these also bloom in the fall?
Or will they continue to bloom until winter.??
Is it a good Idea to plant a mum in the spring when they are at least a foot high or higher??
Thanks
Todd
Do mums like sun or can I plant in the shade? I am in WI.
Hardy Mum seeds
Hi, I would like to start hardy mums from seeds instead of dividing the plants. Do you know where I could buy hardy mum seeds? I have not seen any for sale in stores. Thanks
I moved at the end of last summer and found that I have hardy mums in my new flower bed. I never had a garden before, but I read somewhere that you could use the cuttings after you’ve pinched back the mums to start new roots. I would like to use them to fill in some gaps from a bush I removed, so I placed them in some water and have them in a window that gets morning sun. Should I be doing something else to get them to root? How long before I know if this is actually working?
Do you know a website that sells hardy mum seeds,getting very frustrated loking for hours only finding plants not seeds. HELP!!!!! thanks
Leaf spot disease
I have Mums that return each year. This year, many of the leaves are getting lots of dark spots that show through the leaves top and bottom. What could that be?
I have numerous mums & I usually cut them back twice a season & this year I’m behind and only getting it done once. I am tempted to not do them all. Will it matter? What will happen? I’m thinking they may just bloom in summer. Most all of mine are so tall & thick & I’m growing weary.
Hardy mum wilt disease
I live in Zone 7 and have had several hardy mum plants in my bed out front for a couple years. This summer I noticed one of them was beginning to look a little funny…the underneath started to die and the tips of the stems were wilting. The whole plant ended up dying. Now another mum plant is doing the same thing. They were both perfectly healthy. The only thing I noticed was an excessive amount of (I think) flies inside of them. Could this have killed my plant and be affecting my other one?
My mums are already blooming, and there are some dead flowers on the stems. Should they be removed?
I planted several mums in my yard about a week ago(I live in NC). They’re in partial shade and a mixture of about 3/4 topsoil, and 1/4 of our local clay soil, with plenty of fertilizer. On some, the flowers are turning brown and the leaves don’t look so great either. Some of the other mums are doing well. They’ve been watered/rained on every other day. Do you know why some are struggling and some are not? Thank you.
I planted a mum and it died very quikly (in 4 days). I planted it near my sidewalk and an evergreen. The soil looked like clay.What would have caused this.
Bugs on mums
I successfully got my purple mums to come back this year. The one at the end of the driveway is covered in flies. Every time you walk by they swarm everywhere. I am trying to sell my house and am pretty sure that will be a deterrant. I hate to destroy the plant, I have sprayed wasp spray on it, that didn’t work. Any suggestions?
I live in zone 4 (Western WI) and just purchased some mums today. They’re beginning to flower now. I’d like to use them for a portion of wedding flowers for Oct. 24. Do you know how long they’ll last in the pots? Will they continue to flower if I leave them outside and keep them watered until October 24? Any suggestions? I’ve only purchased 2 pots, but planning on getting more. Thank you.
my yellow mums grow so tall they fall over. i pinched them off but they still grow to tall. what else can i do?
I live in South Jersey and I have a question about buying mums that are already bloomed this early. I was told that if I remove the wilted flowers that new ones will come back, is this true ? I am planting them in the ground in their pots and want to see the blooms when they are planted. I don’t like to buy the ones with closed buds and I’m worried that they won’t make it until Halloween. I could wait and buy ones that are bloomed in October (which is when I usually buy them) but chances are they will be the same ones that are there now. Please help, ths is driving me crazy !
Propagate mums from cuttings
How can you make a sprout off a live mum? I would like to spread mums around and I don’t know how to spread them.
I bought new potted mums with buds- I planted them outside in urns in partial sun. I took them out of pots and planted in potting soil in the urns. They haven’t budded yet and it’s been a week. I live in the Boston North shore area. ?
Hello
I just bought a few mums today. I live in the Northeast and its the 1st of October.
Is it too late to transfer them into the flower bed ??
Do i need to water them in winter ??
Any other advice and tips are greatly appreciated .
Thanks a lot.
I have a lot a bees and flies flying around my flower bed since I planted mums. Why is this happening? I thought flies would be gone with the fall tempertures at 50 degrees. How do I get rid of the flies without killing the mums?
I recently purchased 2 mums that were full of blooms..some had openend but most were just beginning to open. After bringing them home, many of the blooms began to open, but now, all of the buds are turning brown and dying before they open up. I have them in the sun and keep them watered. I live in south GA. What am I doing wrong?
MY MUM IS IN A POT. JUST GOT IT YESTERDAY. HOW OFTEN DO I WATER?
My mother brought home a pot of mums only 6 nights ago from Home Depot. I’m in New York, and I was surprised to see that almost every single blossom was in full bloom. They were a lovely dark yellow tinged with orange. I put them on a south-facing window sill that night, and the next morning at about 10am I went to water them, but half of the blossoms had died and the rest of the plant began wilting (in one night!). I watered them and moved them to another window sill, this time on an east-facing window, fearing that the building across the street was limiting sun from the first window. The next day the plants condition had gotten worse. Since, I have rotated it to windows around the house and nothing has helped. We haven’t turned our heat on yet, so days have been reaching 70F degrees maximum inside, with nights creeping to 50 at lowest. I have almost no experience dealing with flowering potted plants. Can you tell me what I have done wrong, and if they can be saved, what I should do? I’ve read through the comments and realized that I should remove the dead material, so I have just done that.
I live in the Shenandoah Valley and, for two years, have bought “starter” mums and grown them in plastic pots. I transplant them in September and they all are doing beautifully. The Mennonites in the area (some own the greenhouse I buy from) have a rule of thumb for cutting back mums: Mother’s Day, Father’s day and the 4th of July. This works like a charm, keeping the mums from getting two leggy and helping them produce an abundance of flowers.
My orange mums or turning yellowish a drying out. If I pinch off the dying blooms. Will this make the plant look better or will it kill it.
Thanks in advance to all.
Hi,
I live by Denver co. and i just bought 2 beautiful mums for Berlin OH (no tag of what kind) how do i know what zone they are for or what kind they are (hardy?). I guess I will try to winter them in my garage over the winter. Someone told me that they will not come back next year no matter what I do.. Is this correct.
10/19/09
We received two mums as gifts yesterday. One is a cherry color; the other a “golden color”. We live in the Piedmont of NC. How do we take care of these plants through the winter? Thank you for your help.
The pot mum, “Point Pelee” is it a perennal or annual flower? Should I plant it now or keep it indoors until spring if it is a perennal.
Thanks,
Aces