no.. its not too late.. if the are ONLY budded ... trace down the stem ... and where a leaf attaches to the stem.. you will see tiny buds.. real tiny ... cut all the way back.. until .. three to 5 are left on the plant ... and i will guess ... that will make them 3 to 5 inches tall .. it will be severe ... [and do a different number on each plant.. experiment] in another month.. do the same thing.. NOT ALL THE WAY BACK ... but to a few buds on the new growth only ... and do the same thing in august ... so you will trigger 3 to 5 new stems.. and on the second cut.. will encourage that bunch to add 3 to 5 new stems on each stem.. now having up to 25 .. and then if you do it again.. over 100 .. and that is how you generate that big ball of mum ... [the math gets a little fuzzy there .. lol but i am sure you get the idea] then after the august pinch ... leave them be.. to rebud.. and bloom in sept/oct ... they will NOT be on the same schedule.. as when bigboxstore offers them .. wait until somebody confirms such ... and i am presuming. they are still buds.. rather than already open ... a pic would sure help ... or.. the easy way.. just enjoy the show.. and mark the calender for next year ... in Mi.. i seem to recall doing it once in june/july/ and august.. like many things this spring.. these have bolted.. and are way ahead of schedule.. ken PS: mums root INCREDIBLY EASILY ... so stick the cuttings.. sans buds 4 inch cuttings].. into damp media.. and they will probably root in a week .. and those might even bloom by fall .. if you can nurse them thru the heat of summer as new rootings ...

I'm not sure about your zones and weather patterns, but don't cut them back. They need the protection for winter. If you live where it's colder, you shoul also mulch well, and cover them with some burlap. In the spring, cut them back, and give them some fertilizer. When they start coming to, pinch them back a few times, and you'll get more blooms and they'll look great. When you do have to divide them, which is usually every 2-3 years, dig up and take the outer parts of the plant that have some roots, and discard the center. They are similar in nature to the Asters. You can tell division is needed, if they start flopping out in the center. Keep them watered well, and water at the base, not overhead. Hope this helps.

I cant help much with that one, Bonnie! Mine seem to vary somewhat each year too, but since mine are all in widely varying degrees of clay, Ive pretty much just attributed it to that. And mine are just in different places here and there, and not in any sort of a symmetrical pattern, so it doesnt really matter if they all look different. A couple suggestions that might help a little bit. Mums like to be fed, and are not xeric in any sense of the word. I dont think theres any way in the whole wide world that youre going to get them looking even close to the same this year, but I recommend you give them a really good feeding. I recommend a double strength, water soluble, 20/20/20and water them thoroughly with it a couple times, a week apart. (Ive said this before, but Ill repeat it here, I dont like Miracle Grow! I know some people swear by it, but I see it in the same light as I do their potting soilits different every time and you never know for sure what youre getting. Just my opinion! If you can find it, I recommend Jacks All Purpose Fertilizer, but if you cant find that, I recommend pretty much any brand except MG where you can get a 20/20/20 water soluble.) But while that might help them overall, it still probably wont do anything to "even them out." The little ones will get biggerand the big ones will get biggerbut it might just give them all a nice boost. And then I strongly recommend you do the "hose on a trickle and leave it lay at the base of each plant for 20 minutes" to be sure each one of them gets a really, really good, deep wateringand see what effect it has on them. I dont remember actually looking at your soil when I was out there, but it sure looks pretty good in the picture! Just looking at them, Id be inclined to say dig up the big ones, divide them in half, and replant them in the various locations, but if theyve already been transplanted once this year, I dont think thats a very good idea! So I think for this year just keep feeding them regularly and be sure theyre being watered DEEPLY, and let them do their own thing, and decide what youd like to do next spring. If you try the "pattern" thing again next year and it still doesnt work, my best suggestion would be to do the little circle with something that tends to grow more "evenly" and stick the mums in here and there in other places in the garden where the individual plants wont be so easily compared with each other. Just thought of something! Are they all the same variety? When my parents had the display gardens in the fall each year, there were always some varieties that were big and bushy and nice and others that were smaller and just not as robust lookingand there were always a few that looked like total dudsand they were usually out for the following year! Testing varieties was a major reason for even having the display gardens. So if you have more than one variety out there, that might help explain it! You could try tip pinching all of themtaking considerably more off of the taller one, but while that might help even out the height, it would still make each one come back fuller, so it still wouldnt help even out the actual size of the plants. Not much help here this time! I guess my best recommendation would be to feed and deep water and let them do their own thing to see what happens this year and adjust your plans next year if its just not working for you. Whatever happens with the mums, your overall garden looks so good, its not really gonna matter! Skybird

"When a plant is noted to be appropriate for a zone(s), say 10-11, does that mean ONLY those two zones? Or any zone below that range up to 10-11? Or conversely, starting at those zones and going higher. " The answer to this, as with almost any other question, is "It depends." There are many 10-11 zone plants that can be grown in cooler climates if they are protected from frosts. And many plants from 5-6 zones can live happily in the very warm climates. But not all. Besides specific temperature ranges some plants often have humidity requirements- for example many of the warm weather plants grown in southern California or the Southwest do terribly in South Florida (poppies) because it is simply too humid for them. And it works the other way as well- many plants like orchids need the humidity and don't fare well in more arid regions no matter how warm it stays. Also, some plants have cold weather requirements- they actually need xx number of days at low temperatures in order to set blooms like blueberries, or a period of dormancy within their life cycle like deciduous trees. Every climate has it's own peculiarities- as novice gardeners I think one should stick to tried and true but as experience increases so will the desire to push boundaries of zone. Sometimes you have massive success and other times fail miserably. Then we learn about micro-climates and set about creating little niches in our gardens to feature a much wanted species that has particular needs. It all depends on how much time you want to invest in caring for a plant. If someone in a very warm, arid climate is determined to grow Vandas outdoors they can build a water feature in such a manner as to increase the humidity in one small zone. Some people like the tropical palm enthusiasts in cold climates build enormous structures every winter to heat the plant and keep it surviving through each winter while other folks are more of an every plant for itself mentality. Gardening is easy if you follow a few simple rules- find out what a plant needs and give it to them. If you think you can do that go for it. If you think it is beyond you, maybe skip it. When I lived in South Florida all my temperate friends envied my ability to use anthuriums and bromeliads and the like as landscape plants. And I dreamed of being able to have Japanese Maples and hydrangeas and other more temperate species. I think we always want what we can't have and tend to push boundaries to get it. And that's OK. But do your research before you step too far out of the box. If it is a plant that you never see in your area there's probably a good reason for it.