It’s nearly the fall season and that means mums (better known as chrysanthemums) will be available for your fall decor very soon. I used to avoid planting mums. I thought they were boring and too ubiquitous in fall. However, I have discovered a couple of mums with a unique appearance and some new colors and now I appreciate the simple mum. 🙂
This daisy mum below is one of my new favorites. Who knew that mums could look like this? There is a whole collection of mums that resemble daisies.
How to Grow Mums for Fall Color
Mums need full sun to look their best, so be sure to plant them where they get at least 6 hours of sun each day. In clay soil, you’ll need to either amend the soil to increase drainage or plant in a raised bed with topsoil and mulch.
The benefit of growing mums in the Southeast is that they will usually survive the winter, even if you planted them in the fall. For best results, plant in spring to give them more time to develop roots.
How to Plant Mums in a Container for Fall Color
If you’re growing your mums as an annual, planting them in a container is a good choice. You can pick a planter that has a seasonal decoration or even one that has a contrasting color for more of a visual impact. This mum and container color combination is one of my favorites thus far. It’s quite a show-stopper.
Create a Pattern of Colors
Don’t be afraid to mix and match your mums and create stripes of different colors. Bunch your mums together for even more color impact.
Pinch Mums and Deadhead Flowers to Get the Best Plant Shape and More Flowers
If you are planting your mums in the spring and want them to look like the ones you see in fall with the nice rounded shape and full of flowers, you’ll need to pinch the growing ends of the plant to create more branching and that dome shape.
Continue this process until early July and then leave the plant to produce flowers. Deadhead your flowers to keep your mum blooming nicely.
Here’s a great tutorial video on how to pinch/trim your mums to make them have a great shape.
Spring planted (hardy) mums will need to be fertilized in warmer months for their best growth and mulched for winter. It doesn’t take much for these plants to continue to produce flowers twice a year.
You can tell I didn’t pinch these mums. They are a bit leggy although they have ample blooms.
