roseycheeks
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Goldcrest Yellow Mums

My hubby got me a Goldcrest Yellow Mum and I was thinking of trying to keep it in the house all winter, it has a lot of buds on it and I have in front of the window, it has a curtain between it and the sun because it won't fit on the windowsill, the sill is too narrow and the mums are spread out too far. I have been researching everywhere and no one can really tell me if I can keep them there all winter. We have a storm window we put on the outside to keep it warmer in the house, I don't want to plant it outside because we might have to move and I want to take it with me, any suggestions or advice would be helpful, the mum is a garden mum so it should be pretty hardy then, shouldn't it?ImageWould it be possible to keep it in the living room all winter? I can move it to the bookcase beside my computer desk and it will be cooler.

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rainbowgardener
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No, no, no...it is not an indoor plant. It is a full sun, cold hardy perennial. It needs full sun and then it needs to gradually go dormant as the weather cools and the days shorten. You could plant it in the ground and then just dig it up when you are ready to move. But there would be some transplant shock, and anyway if you are selling a house, buyers expect the landscaping to stay. So plant it in a big pot (like 10 gallon size) so that there is plenty of dirt insulating the roots and then just leave it outside, uncovered for the winter. It will be much happier there. It will go dormant and look kind of dead (though probably with some living basal leaves), but it will be resting and gathering energy for the spring.

It will die indoors.

roseycheeks
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Can I keep the mums inside until they die? Then I put them out for the winter?

roseycheeks
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I put the mums outside it is supposed to be in the high 30's to low 40's tonight, they were looking kind of dead so I put them beside the door on a block of concrete, it is under the roof so the rain will not get it unless the wind is blowing, it will survive the winter unprotected you say? I checked the soil and I don't need to water it anymore, does that mean I don't need to water anymore until spring? I hope this one survives, if it does not , I think I will get them and then when they die just toss them. But you know how stubborn I can be. I did not transplant them to a bigger pot because I did not have one, hopefully they will survive the way they are.

LeVin
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Mine were planted outside in front of the house right away few weeks ago, and I hope they survive the winter as well. I might try my best to see if I can insulate them better with some fallen leaves and small wooden stakes to encourage their stay, but who knows. I've read that planting them in the fall gives them less chance of surviving the winter since their roots won't be as well-established. Hopefully, the winter will be mild this year.

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rainbowgardener
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roseycheeks wrote:I put the mums outside it is supposed to be in the high 30's to low 40's tonight, they were looking kind of dead so I put them beside the door on a block of concrete, it is under the roof so the rain will not get it unless the wind is blowing, it will survive the winter unprotected you say? I checked the soil and I don't need to water it anymore, does that mean I don't need to water anymore until spring? I hope this one survives, if it does not , I think I will get them and then when they die just toss them. But you know how stubborn I can be. I did not transplant them to a bigger pot because I did not have one, hopefully they will survive the way they are.


Mums are cold hardy to zone 5. You are in zone 6, so it should be OK, but being in a pot it is more vulnerable than in the ground and the smaller the pot, the more vulnerable. You can give it more protection by burying the pot. If you don't want to do that, you can make a little chicken wire cage/cylinder a few inches wider than the pot diameter and fill it in with leaves. It will need some water through the winter. If it were where rain/snow could reach it that would be plenty. If not, then throw some snow around it occasionally. It doesn't need nearly as much water while dormant as while growing, but you need to keep the roots alive.

LeVin is right, if you want to keep a mum alive, it is best to buy one in spring and plant it, so that it is well established by winter. Most of the mums that are sold as plants in full bloom in fall end up tossed later.

roseycheeks
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I can put it where it will get rain and snow, if I find a bigger pot can I just set the smaller pot inside and stuff the space inside with leaves? Do you think that would do the trick? I don't know where I can find any chicken wire. Most of the people around here who would have that kind of stuff have all packed up their cottages and moved back into town for the winter. It is getting plenty of sunshine where it is, I will move it where it won't be as protected from the elements. Thanks for all your help rainbowgardener, you have been a great source of information.

roseycheeks
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ImageHere is a bigger pot that I set my mums in on top of a smaller one that I turned upside down. I then stuffed the space with leaves so it will have the roots protected. Let me know if that is enough or do I need to do something else to them, or put more leaves in it.

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rainbowgardener
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Should be fine! :)

roseycheeks
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thanks rainbowgardener! It is raining now and you were right, they do look dead, but heres hoping they make it through the winter. :wink:

Susan W
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Most fall blooming mums as yours may or may not make it. They've been pumped with fertilizer to look pretty. I've picked up faded mums both when I worked a garden center and now off the 'dump table' and figure it's a coin toss. I do cut them back to about 3" and plant.

roseycheeks
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Susan, when my hubby got these the garden center said that they are garden mums and they are called hardy. I can't plant them because there is no place besides the backyard that gets enough sun, with them in a pot I can move them to the sunniest spot I can find in front. My house is surrounded by trees, we rent and I don't think the landlord would appreciate it if we started cutting down trees just to make room for flowers, although I have thought about it a lot of times. lol! If they don't make it, I tried, if they do, I will be happy.

roseycheeks
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It is December 28th and it is 46 degrees outside, I thought I would check and see if the mums have any new growth, the Goldcrest mums that my hubby got me has green growth!!! :-() I checked the Bulgarian mums that my mom gave me and there is no new growth yet, I covered the Goldcrest ones back up because there is supposed to be very low temps yet and I did not want the new growth to get killed.



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