Chrysanthemums are Fall Beauties
- • Plant snapdragons, pansies and violas for color this fall, winter and next spring.
- • Lettuce can be planted from starts for a quick fall crop.
- • Michaelmas daisies have bright flowers in purples and dark reds. These perennials come back every year to brighten the fall garden.
- • Rough black spots of apples and their leaves are due to the ‘scab’ fungus. Nothing can be done now, but remember to spray trees next spring with lime sulfur just before the blossoms open.
- • Fall is for Planting! Trees, shrubs, lawns, ground covers and bulbs get a jump on spring if you plant them now.
Chrysanthemums are Fall Beauties
The Greeks named it chrysos anthos—gold flower. The Chinese have revered it for thousands of years and the Japanese made it their national flower in 910 A.D. Yes, chrysanthemums or “mums” as they are commonly called have been around for a long time.
Chrysanthemums make some of the best cut flowers around. They last up to two weeks in the vase, and give fresh color to the garden when nearly all other perennials have finished their show for the year. In your garden, they will grow 2 to 4 feet tall, and have long stems for cutting.
Fall-blooming mums come in a dazzling array of colors. The “fall colors” of yellow, gold, rust and magenta are very appealing. But they also come in pink, white, purple and lavender.
There are “cushion” or “button” types which form low, bushy plants covered with blossoms as well as tall varieties with larger flowers. Most mums have fully double with flowers 2 to 4 inches across.
When you buy mums, they are tight, compact plants in 4-inch pots, blooming at about 8 inches tall. They will never do this again! The growers treat them with growth regulators that keep them very compact so they will bloom nicely in a small pot. In your garden, they will grow 2 to 4 feet tall, and have long stems for cutting.
These taller varieties need frequent pinching until midsummer to encourage full, stocky plants and large blooms, and they should be staked to keep their tall stems from breaking.
Mums will bloom with little care, but they need pinching to grow bushy plants and have an abundance of flowers. Without pinching, they will grow skinny stalks and have few flowers. Pinching forces branching, and therefore, more flowers. No pinching should be done after mid-July to allow plants time to set flower buds for fall.
To encourage prize-winning blooms, pinch all but one bud per stem. Remember to remove dead flower heads to force more flower production. Don’t overhead water because this encourage blossom rot.
When mums have finished flowering, cut the stalks down to a few inches above the ground. They will come back year after year with more beautiful flowers.
Plant mums in the flower beds along the house or by a fence in a sunny place. The soil should drain well and be enriched with compost. Set plants 18 inches to 2 feet apart and feed them monthly through the spring and summer until buds form. Stop feeding when the buds show color.
Fill a container by the entry with bright colored chrysanthemums or fill a flower bed with a riot of vibrantly colored mums.
Enjoy this final burst of color in your flower garden, and cut some long-stemmed beauties to admire indoors.
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