Flower Spotlight: Discover Magnificent Mums, Fall's Peerless Beauties!
by
Wet & Forget
Easy
It just wouldn't seem like fall without mums. These colorful beauties spring to life just as so many other flowers start to wilt, adding their own splash of color to autumn's palette of falling leaves.
Chrysanthemums come in several shapes and a nearly unlimited variety of colors, and they aren't just for container planting--there's even a mum cultivar that's hardy enough to survive the brutal Minnesota winter!
Chrysanthemums come in many of the deep, saturated colors that your eyes and heart link up with autumn. The garnet-tone red, vibrant orange and, of course, gold, of these lovely flowers are like echoes of autumn leaves in your garden.
Mums need plenty of sun and well-drained soil, so choose a spot in your garden where they will get at least 6 hours of good sunlight per day, and add compost to your soil if it's too dense.
Loosen the soil and mix in compost, if necessary, to a depth of 8 to 12 inches, and then gently plant the mums about 1 inch deeper than they were in the pot. When the new growth starts to show next spring, trim off last year's stems. Fertilize mums once a month from spring through July, and divide mums every third spring to give them some space.
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