Garden

[sparklestar]

I purchased three of them in pots at the beginning of Sept.  They are dried up and flowers are gone.  Do I throw them out?  Is there a way they might come back next year?  I didn't plant them in the ground. 

[ValuSkr]

If the plants are dried up, you can discard them.  But if it's just the flowers that are dead, and the plants are healthy, you can try planting in the ground.  Select a sunny location and mulch to help insulate the roots. Sometimes they return in the Spring, sometimes they don't.  It depends on a lot of things, mainly how harsh your winter is, whether they're hardy mums, and whether they're able to get established before the ground freezes.

[Catiele]

I would try and plant them. Some of mine came back and some didn't. They need sun and a little fertalizer. The ones that came back are really nice. Good luck.

[Kitlynn]

If you cut the dead flowers off and then soak them in the pots and make sure you get them soaked well there is a good chance they will bloom again in the pots.

[Reba055]

Someone told me that the ones grown for the big chains are really only made to bloom for a short time then they dry up and die. I planted marigolds in the ground, cut back all spent blooms, and watered properly. They looked great for about a month or so, then the blooms dried up and died and they never did anything again. These were loaded with blooms. Not like the marigolds of old. Not sure if that's the case, but makes me wonder. 

[JustJazzmom]

Mums are perennials, marigolds are annuals by us in the NE.

[lulu2]

We've been buying mums for well over 35 years.  The ones from way back when always came back whether they were planted in the ground or left in their pots. It's been years since any of our mum purchases came back. 

You may get a few more blooms later in the season if you cut them back and water throughly.  I'd toss them and buy a few more.  Many garden centers, grocery and box stores are selling them 3@$10 or 4@$12.

[Carmie]

Mums in pots need a lot of water. You should not let them wilt from lack of water.  If they are dried up, they are dead.  If you water them well and often, the blooms will dry up, but the green plant will look healthy.

 You can plant mums with healthy green leaves in the ground before or after they are done blooming.  Mulch the plant . The plant will die down during a frost, but probably come back next spring.

[lucymo]

---

@sparklestar wrote:

I purchased three of them in pots at the beginning of Sept.  They are dried up and flowers are gone.  Do I throw them out?  Is there a way they might come back next year?  I didn't plant them in the ground. 

---

When I buy Mums in pots to set on the walk, deck etc, I just toss them at the end of the season, not worth the effort in most cases.  We have some in the ground that are several years old but this is unusual for the Mums we buy today.

I posted a picture of our Mums in the ground here in "Are your Chrysanthemums Blooming Yet?"  You can see they are quite large and have covered the boulder.