topic Re: Mums in Garden

Mums

coffee drinker — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:29:36 GMT

Why do mine die before the season is over. T.they last for maybe 2 weeks if I'm lucky. I've purchased mums at least 3 or 4 years in a row and each year, they just die. I water them and death!!! What am I doing wrong.

Re: Mums

151949 — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:54:06 GMT

We bought mums to put out around the camper in Sept and the bunnies ate them.

Re: Mums

ical — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:59:19 GMT

They are dumb temporary decorations. Bees don't like them unless they are confused and then they land and leave. They get covered in leaves. They don't come back reliably the next year. If you leave them in pots and it gets too cold, they will die or mold up if you water them too much. Mums are dumb and useless and so hybridized they should be made of plastic by now. They even smell bad. Did I say I don't like mums?

Re: Mums

Mom2Dogs — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:22:30 GMT

My nursery told me to buy Asters instead of mums....so I did and they have been thriving for several years. I won't buy mums they are only a momentary satisfaction, they look so nice, but just don't last.

Re: Mums

RedTop — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:23:49 GMT

I love a cluster of multi-colored mums at my entry door this time of year, but they involve an awful lot of work. They cannot be too dry, or too wet. If temperatures drop, they will get nipped, and then die, so I have to cover them with a sheet, or move them into the garage on the coolest nights. My yellow and bronze mums are fine, but my big red one apparently got nipped, and is dying.

Re: Mums

HHC1 — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:02:54 GMT

I have a profusion of mums at my front door. I put mine out in September and change them out once before Thanksgiving. I have never had any that survived the entire season.

Re: Mums

ValuSkr — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:42:14 GMT

Make sure you're buying hardy mums, not florist mums. Hardy mums love cooler weather; they're sold by nurseries and garden stores. Florist mums are usually sold at grocery stores and - duh - by florists. Hardy mums are perennial and will come back next year; plant them in full sun. Of course, planting this late in the year can be dicey if your winters are harsh; plant them in a protected area. If they return in the Spring, you can move them to a better area.

Re: Mums

ical — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:25:31 GMT

On 10/10/2014 ValuSkr said:
Make sure you're buying hardy mums, not florist mums. Hardy mums love cooler weather; they're sold by nurseries and garden stores. Florist mums are usually sold at grocery stores and - duh - by florists. Hardy mums are perennial and will come back next year; plant them in full sun. Of course, planting this late in the year can be dicey if your winters are harsh; plant them in a protected area. If they return in the Spring, you can move them to a better area.

Nope. Never. Not one of them will come back, and I'm talking about every kind of mum you can imagine from nurseries (I live near so many nurseries as so many people do). None of them come back. They are marked hardy mums too. As in hardy har har I suppose. I will never buy them again.

Re: Mums

ical — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:26:25 GMT

On 10/10/2014 momtodogs said:
My nursery told me to buy Asters instead of mums....so I did and they have been thriving for several years. I won't buy mums they are only a momentary satisfaction, they look so nice, but just don't last.

Now these do come back!

Re: Mums

pattypeep — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:29:31 GMT

On 10/10/2014 ical said:
On 10/10/2014 ValuSkr said:
Make sure you're buying hardy mums, not florist mums. Hardy mums love cooler weather; they're sold by nurseries and garden stores. Florist mums are usually sold at grocery stores and - duh - by florists. Hardy mums are perennial and will come back next year; plant them in full sun. Of course, planting this late in the year can be dicey if your winters are harsh; plant them in a protected area. If they return in the Spring, you can move them to a better area.

Nope. Never. Not one of them will come back, and I'm talking about every kind of mum you can imagine from nurseries (I live near so many nurseries as so many people do). None of them come back. They are marked hardy mums too. As in hardy har har I suppose. I will never buy them again.

I've had the same three mums by my driveway for at least four years and they are huge.

Re: Mums

luvmyteddy4 — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 02:11:15 GMT

I have 14 mums in my front flowers beds and they bloom twice a year. I planted 3 years ago and they are beautiful.

Re: Mums

KippyK3 — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 03:12:27 GMT

I don't know what variety mine are. I have six. Two lavender, and four burgundy. (I had ten, but our dogs liked them too!) Some were here when we moved in, and I planted the two lavender, two years ago. I purchased those at Lowes. They come back every year and are getting huge. They are in full sun, on the south side of my house. They start to bud in early summer, and I pinch those back. This year, I had to do it two times. When they are done blooming, and the plant is brown, I cut the dead stems down to about 2 - 3". I cover with leaves, mulch, whatever I have. Just mound it up, over the plants. This is to keep the excess water out, which helps to keep them from root rot/freezing. In the spring, when I can see new growth of 3" or so, I gently rake away the leaves/mulch. I didn't think they would make it through last winter because of the brutal cold/freeze, but they did. Maybe you could try this too. (I did this even when we lived up north, and it worked there, also.) The mums that I left in the big pots didn't survive the winter. (?)

Re: Mums

JustJazzmom — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:19:31 GMT

Too bad not all of the colorful mums are available in the spring to purchase so they can have established root systems by fall and enable their survival thru winter. Unfortunately the public will not buy a mum if not in bloom. I would provided that the tag had a picture of the color mum I was buying.

There are several types of asters too-- New England (Aster novae-angliae), New York (Aster novi-belgii) varieties to name 2.

There is a taxonomic change to asters according to Wiki. Old World asters are still listed as such and New World asters (from Wiki): species have now been reclassified in the genera Almutaster, Canadanthus, Doellingeria, Eucephalus, Eurybia, Ionactis, Oligoneuron, Oreostemma, Sericocarpus and Symphyotrichum

The 2 asters I listed above are in the Symphyotrichum genera. I just call them asters.

Re: Mums

ivey — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 06:42:19 GMT

Thought it was just me. I've planted mums in pots for a couple of years--and no really good luck. This year, I noticed they looked pitiful. They had some kind of a messy worm on them. Forget it.

Re: Mums

ical — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 13:39:42 GMT

Geographically speaking, maybe mums don't like living in certain areas and refuse to come back unless you bring them in for winter or throw a blanket around them on chilly nights? And forget about it if it rains too much and they get mum mold...

Re: Mums

shesallthat — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:16:24 GMT

i buy them every year for a pop of color by the door. i am totally fine with them being temporary! i only need them for october and november and they always last those two months. i hate to throw them away when it is time to start planning for my christmas decor but for what they cost it is not a big deal and i get more than my money worth out of them! i love the look and all the different colors!

justjazzmom - i am the opposite! i never buy a mum in bloom! i go by the tag and those that have buds that have cracked open just a little to make sure it is the correct color. that is why mine last so long and i never have a problem. if you buy them already in bloom they are done basically.

Re: Mums

millieshops — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:45:47 GMT

The house I owned for almost 30 years had a mum garden when I first bought it. Those mums returned year after year for well over ten years - until tree roots just turned my soil to cement!

Just yesterday, I cut all the blossoms from a cheap mum I bought for my entry. Now it's a lovely green plant, but I'll toss it once the freeze sets in.

Re: Mums

ValuSkr — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:02:12 GMT

On 10/10/2014 JustJazzmom said:
Too bad not all of the colorful mums are available in the spring to purchase so they can have established root systems by fall and enable their survival thru winter. Unfortunately the public will not buy a mum if not in bloom. I would provided that the tag had a picture of the color mum I was buying.

There are several types of asters too-- New England (Aster novae-angliae), New York (Aster novi-belgii) varieties to name 2.

There is a taxonomic change to asters according to Wiki. Old World asters are still listed as such and New World asters (from Wiki): species have now been reclassified in the genera Almutaster, Canadanthus, Doellingeria, Eucephalus, Eurybia, Ionactis, Oligoneuron, Oreostemma, Sericocarpus and Symphyotrichum

The 2 asters I listed above are in the Symphyotrichum genera. I just call them asters.

I too have wanted to buy mums in the Spring so they can be planted and established long before winter sets in. But they're nowhere to be found. I suppose the industry does better when people think they're annuals / just a seasonal decoration. It would be interesting to know how many millions of mums are sold each fall and then discarded.

Re: Mums

emmysmom — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:22:09 GMT

I gave up planting them too. Now I just buy 2 plants, put them on the porch, they'll last about 6 weeks, then I pitch them. I will try to find asters! I saw some pansies today, those are frost proof, may get a couple of those as mine are going downhill, lol!

Re: Mums

Vamp — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:26:05 GMT

On 10/10/2014 momtodogs said:
My nursery told me to buy Asters instead of mums....so I did and they have been thriving for several years. I won't buy mums they are only a momentary satisfaction, they look so nice, but just don't last.

Good to know! I have mums out now, but I may switch to asters next year. Thanks for the tip!