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seaellare
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Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:12 am
Location: zone 7 Piedmont, SC

Question about mums

Hello! I have a newly dug addition to my flower bed and I'm just itching to get things planted!! I have planted some white balloon flowers leading up to an open space. I planted an Autumn Chiffon Encore Azalea (small cultivar) in the center, and then I need to plant something on the other side. Behind these, I have asiatic lillies, wooly yarrow, cheddar pinks. In between the balloon flowers, I'd like to place a mum on either side of the azalea. I saw some in a grocery store this morning and they were so gorgeous I almost bought 2! The thing that stopped me (aside from them being from a grocery store) was that the stake inside them said "pot mums". Can these be transplanted in the ground or are they a more tender variety?

Last fall, I got a bunch of mums and planted them in front of some bushes, and not a one made it through our winter. I'm guessing that they weren't in the ground long enough for the roots to get established. Our winter was pretty mild - zone 7/sometimes 8. I think it snowed once here...

These mums were really gorgeous - white leaves with purple down the center! I'd love to plant them, but I don't want to lose them! I'm hoping that if I get them in the ground now, they would have plenty of time before the cold weather comes, and they would survive!

Thanks for any help!
Christine

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Jess
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:50 pm
Location: England

Garden mums take to the perennial border like a fish to water. Buy them in bloom, and plant them in full sun (light afternoon shade in hot climates). They like rich, well-drained soil and protection from dry, cold winter winds.

Pot mums, which are sold all year, ultimately take the same growing conditions. But since they must endure the stress of forced bloom and off-season transplanting, they need special handling to make the transition from hothouse to garden. Put them in a bright place indoors for no more than two weeks after you get them, watering as needed. Then move them to a protected place outdoors that gets filtered sun and no frost, for two weeks. Finally, cut the plants back by about two-thirds and transplant them into the garden.

If you live in a cold-winter climate and buy a pot mum in late summer or in fall or winter, cut it back after blooms have faded and keep it in a cool room or greenhouse until spring. Then transplant it into the garden.

Just copied that from a website. Hope it helps.

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seaellare
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Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:12 am
Location: zone 7 Piedmont, SC

Wow - they are a pain, but I can handle that! Just have to remember when to move them lol!

What about cutting the blooms? These ones are in bloom right now - should I deadhead them in the hopes that they will bloom again this fall or just let them be for a year?

Thanks a bunch!!!

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Jess
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:50 pm
Location: England

Yes. If you keep deadheading it should keep flowering.

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JPlovesflowers
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Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:36 pm
Location: Northwest Arkansas

You've probably planted these in your garden already but I wanted to share a tip I picked up from a friend many years ago. If you will shear back mums in early summer, they will bloom more profusely in the fall. I lived in Richmond and my target was always to cut them by June 1, so you could probably cut yours back by mid-May. Good luck! :D



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