Can I plant my mums after they finish flowering?

Like many of you, I couldn’t resist purchasing a couple of mums for the fall to bring some color to my house. I made sure that I bought a chrysanthemum with the buds closed with healthy foliage so they would last a while. Once I bought them, I put them on my table and kind of forgot about them until they started looking a bit sad.

I put on my plant doctor hat and realized that even though I was watering them, they need a good soak. Most of the containers of mums are dense with roots and the media they are planted in can repel water if they dry too much. Also the leaves were yellowing. They needed some sun. I placed them outside on my porch with a pan of water underneath. Great, they are now happy and I haven’t killed them yet.

Many people leave them on their table until they die, but chrysanthemums (poinsettias too) are perennials so they can bloom year after year in zones 5-9, giving a pop of color in the fall. They can be grown in containers, or in beds with existing shrubs and flowers.

The flowers only last about 2-3 weeks. You can plant the chrysanthemums in well-drained beds that get at least 6 hours of sun daily. You can cut the faded flowers about ¼ of their height and they may produce more flowers. You can mulch around the mums, but leave a 6-inch mulch-free zone around the base of each plant so that moisture isn’t trapped about the crowns making them more susceptible to rot.

Around late January to early February, you should cut back your garden mums to about three inches from the ground. You can reduce or eliminate fertilization and watering until the spring. They will stay dormant during the rest of the winter. You’ll see new shoots form in the early spring at the base of the old stems.

Chrysanthemums attract butterflies in the fall, so they are a great addition to any garden.