Sheffield Pink: an old fashioned iron-clad one. Mine even bloom in part shade. Not prolifically, but it is color from October through Thanksgiving. Honest. Color is lovely, not pinky pink

What about the kind that are commonly available in the fall as blooming plants? I know they are considered marginal, but IÂm wondering if among those there are some that are hardier.

I never see the "garden" truly hardy kind offered for sale around here. The Sheffield Pink sounds pretty, that color would work in my main bed if it can tolerate winter damp.

I have probably a dozen or so varieties that have been in my gardens for multiple winters, almost all of which I've started in the spring from cuttings or 2-3" pots. I have cushion mums that came from the grocery's plant tent and Wlamart/HD, and I have a bunch of cushion and daisy types from Bluestone that have been very hardy here in MN. I usually throw shredded leaves on them in November so taht they don't frost heave, and I also split tehm regularly so taht they stay vigorous.

Lots of mums won't make it, but if they have a chance to get well-established in the garden, their root systems will keep them in the ground. FOr pots purchased in the fall, I think I'd be inclined to sink the whole pot because things I plant in September or later don't necessarily manage to root in before they go dormant.

If you sink the whole pot, how is that an advantage? I have heard that recommended a couple of times for late purchased plants and have been wondering. Is it that it avoids transplant shock? IÂm speculating; since it doesnÂt have time to really root in, at least it has not been shocked? How does it draw up water if it has no contact with the soil? Or do you just make a point of watering the sunk-in pot to make sure until frost?

I have already bought way too much this fall and if I could sink them into my soft earthed vegetable garden, that would really save me time. I need to re-work the beds where these are destined to go as it is, so itÂs not like I could just pop them into their final place tomorrow.

From a link on the internet. Let me see if I can post the link

* Chrysanthemum ÂClara Curtis - Rubellum Group (hybrid) Long-lasting, early season, single or semi-double pink flowers
* C. ÂMary Stoker - Rubellum Group (hybrid) Early season, apricot yellow single flowerheads.
* C. ÂApricot Moneymaker - Mid-season Anemone style with bronze petals

Cultural Notes: Mums need at least a half day of sun for good bloom, but full sun is best. Mums set buds in response to day length, so avoid confusing them by planting where they may be exposed to bright night time light.

Best if planted in the spring and allowed to become established. They refer a rich, well-drained soil, slightly on the alkaline side. Feeding every 3-4 weeks until buds set will improve flowering.

Maintenance: To promote a sturdy, bushier plant with lots of blooms, pinch off the top 1 to 2 inches of growth once taller varieties are at least 6 inches high; shorter varieties, 4 to 5 inches high. Continue pinching the tips every 3 - 4 weeks until early July in cooler climates, the end of July in warmer Zones.

Deadheading is only necessary in warmer climates, where the plants remain green. In areas that experience freezing winters, allowing the old foliage to remain until spring helps the plantÂs survival. During cold, snowless winters, mulching will be necessary. Even then, thereÂs no guarantee all your mums will make it, especially those planted in the fall.

If mums have not been hardy in your area, you could try potting them and moving them to a more protected area of the garden for the winter and return them to their intended spot in the spring.

Established mums can be dug and divided in spring, every 2 - 3 years as necessary.
Quick Tips for Fall

How to Over Winter Mums in the GardenSink Your Still Potted Plants in the Ground for WinterWhat to Do in the Garden in September - A Regional Gardening Almanac
More Links

From idabean: I reiterate these any mum needs to be planted much earlier in the season than mid fall. If a mum is labeled "hardy" and it is early September or thereabouts, it is worth giving a try. But here in z.5 I wouldn't make the effort to plant it much later becuae it just won't have time to root. Perhaps it could be later in a sheltered microclimate in z. 5.
this is the link to a good site.
http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofile1/p/Mums.htm

Thanks! This was so helpful! I appreciate it. The articles were very good.

I think I will plant some of the small quart size, "expendable" cushion mums, since I know they can easily be replaced. Plus most of those are going to an existing bed that does not need to be re-worked.

The more exotic ones (that I have not seen before) I will sink in the vegetable bed. The vegetable bed is, however, in a more exposed location that can get wind from the NW. Would it help to make a cage out of hardware cloth around the cluster of planted pots and fill it with leaves?

This is a really great question. I understand that around here there are "hardy type or your garden mums" and there are "florist mums" that are greenhouse grown and will not be able to come back in the colder zones. What the difference is, I wish I knew. I see so many of the newer, different looking ones that you are describing linnea put in plantings around buildings and they look like they were just recently planted, in full bloom already. Lots of times these plants don't get watered and they tend to just dry up without the extra care. It's almost like they are used just to add some fall color and then are considered disposable plants.

I've only had marginal success here keeping mums going. It seems that if you can keep them going for a couple of years, you are likely to have them around for a long time. I have some rooted cuttings from my parents house that are a small white button type of mum, and it's been living at their house with no extra care for probably 20 years.

A few years ago, a company put out a group of mums called "My Favorite Mum" that were described as winter hardy. I had two different ones. Both returned for a second season. One was planted behind a perennial that grew too tall and that mum got very spindly, reaching for the sun. The other was planted in full sun and did well. We were moving, so I dug up a small piece of each and took them with me. The spindly one did not make it through another winter at the new house, but the other one did. It came back this spring, but never got more than a half inch high, and it died. Or so I thought. Just a few weeks ago, in the spot near where it was planted, a nice, healthy sprig of mum came up. I was thinking about moving it to the veggie garden for the winter, but decided to leave it alone for the winter and see if it comes back again in the spring. I was so pleased to see that I hadn't completely lost that plant.

Linda

sheffield pink has been in two gardens for at least 10 years. I got two other named ones (I don't remember the names!) three years ago, and they've come back strong. No pampering at all. I can dig up the name of one, it has a three syllable Japanese name. Darned if I remember the others. I'm not reliable enough to say I'd send you a cutting, but I would be happy to share with anyone else who lives near Lexington MA. I guess that's not much of an offer, is it?
Marie

I too have been wondering just how the florist mums are less hardy are they a different kind of mum? I have tried so many 'grocery store' mums that have such different & beautiful blooms only to have them not survive the winter (did plant one big mum x a funeral that has done well though). Wonder why (here at least) the mums come out for sale in the Fall instead of earlier when they would have a longer time to adjust & a better chance over-wintering? Of course it is the Fall when one could see the blooms & not just take the color described on the label in early summer for granted I guess!

The fall mums sold before fall actually arrives are eye candy. Bluestone has a raft of hardy mums they sell in spring. However, they sell them by threes, or as a collection. You can get ideas in any case about what's out there. I got my sheffield pink at the town garden club sale, probably right from one of the historical gardens. Maybe after looking at Bluestone and Google, you can find some single plants mailorder. Or post on trades here on GW or on your area forum to see who might have some to share or trade.My daughter and I bought some "late" ones early in the season at a speciality mum nursery. Planted mid september, mulched lightly, and they returned. Too bad one is a boring yellow pompom. Hardly worth the real estate.

I used to see small pots - 3 or 4 inch size - of mums early in the growing season at some of the box stores. I remember buying one and it did get established well and returned the next year. I had forgotten about it. I dug it and gave it to a friend when we were moving. I have to remember to ask her if she still has it. She has several mums that keep coming back and one year she took cuttings and brought several pots of these to a local plant swap.

The "My Favorite Mum" plants that I mentioned before were also sold in the spring, giving them lots of time to settle in. Perhaps the key to finding the hardiest mums is to share cuttings of returning mums in the spring with other gardeners. I will be checking out the ones that my friend has had success with next spring. I had asked her to tag them according to color so we would know what color each one was.

Linda

A trick I found to find the hardiest "fall" mums is to look at the base for new growth while it is flowering.

I have some apricot ones that come back and some red ones, although I suspect some pink ones may have reverted to red. I had a white one for several years, but last winter took its toll and there's just a little piece.

Last fall I tried overwintering a containerized one in my unheated garage (I repotted it to a larger pot first teasing the roots). It made it fine. Unfortunately, in the spring it landed in an out of the way spot and it didn't get the necessary pinching and fertilizing and sun throughout the season. It does have buds though and maybe they will open before the season ends. I hope.

IÂve been trying to pick ones that have the healthiest leaves regardless of being full of flowers. I look at some in the store that are blooming to figure out what the colors are, then pick out to buy, same-named ones with sturdy stems and leaves. ThatÂs a good idea to look at the base for new growth.

I have had some come back several years now that were bought in the fall as very small (less than quarts, even) at LoweÂs. I did not pinch them this year and they are maybe 1 foot to 16 inches tall, a nice spray of delicate flowers. Unpinched they have been blooming for 2 weeks and still have lot of buds. But the flowers are very small and pretty ordinary looking (in form), apart from the nice colors. Not pompoms, more pointed petals. Some have been moved twice and are still doing fine. The survivors have been all planted in a drier area. The ones I planted in my main raised bed (that retains too much moisture), or in a heavy clay bed, never made it.

The more exotic ones I just bought have daisy like flowers 2 inches wide. If I could get those to live what an impact in my fall garden they would make! I may try one in the garage as a test. It is attached but gets pretty cold closer to the garage door. Then sink the rest in the vegetable garden and make up some kind of wind break.

linnea, it may be interesting to try the pot of mums in the attached garage. If you decide to do it, do let us know if the mum made it through the winter next spring.

We have an unheated porch that is completely enclosed. Our first winter here, I kept two pots of Stella D'Oro daylilies pieces that I was going to throw in the compost pile (leftovers from what I dug out and gave away) and they made it just fine. Last year, I had a pot of Standard Dwarf Iris rhizomes, teeny tiny rhizomes, that didn't get put in the ground in time, and they grew very quickly once the weather got warm in the spring. They acutally bloomed a full two weeks sooner than the ones in the ground. And they were the same variety. I thought it interesting that I was able to keep these plants alive in pots out there.

Linda

Saw this thread and couldn't not respond.
I actually had four different mums in four different terra cotta pots outside last Fall
By the time I moved them to the garage the soil was frozen and I couldn't for the life of me dump them in the garbage without breaking my pots so I thought, oh I'll just shove them in a corner of my unheated garage and throw them out when they thaw. Well, I went to do that yesterday. All four were brown and cripsy/dead/crunchy.
Well as I was dumping two of them I noticed the smaller two had new green growth at the base of all the dead stuff.
So I just cut off all the crispy stuff and just left the green stuff in tact. I have no idea what kind they are (the cheap ones they sell at the nursery in the fall) they are white in color and I did not water them AT ALL over the winter. Put them in froze and let them be. Now I assume these will not look as good as last year UNLESS I really keep up on pruning them.

So it can be done!
Just thought I would add to this post

Thanks

Curtis

Thanks for reviving my old post! ItÂs too soon to tell for most of mine. The ones sunk in the vegetable garden, which were the big exotic ones, are still covered with leaves. It was a tough winter though so IÂm not expecting much and will be happy with what I get. I did notice in trolling the yard some growth at the base of a few, all of which (so far) were the really small cheap-ies, the ones I choose for health regardless of whether they had flowers in bloom. That got me all excited.

The advice I have read says that Mums should be planted in the spring and well rooted before winter in order to survive. The ones you buy in the fall may be marginally hardy varieties anyway. But maybe you will be lucky with some of yours.

I also recommend Sheffield mums. You can hardly get rid of them as they do gradually spread. I love that they bloom when all else is done. There are other hardy garden mums out there that probably do as well. I hope to find Bronze Elegance.

You may want to check the Busse Gardens website.

Montauk Daisies, definitely my hardiest mum. Almost looks like a succulent the foliage is so nice. Only minus is that it gets bare-knees after a couple years and the stems smell bad when the plant is pruned. Major plus, it roots like a succulent, cut a stem, push it into the ground and poof, new plant.

~Chills

My two easiest mums in USA z. 4 are Sheffield Pink (aka Hillside) and Mei-kyo. No fuss, very hardy and strong plants. I've had both for many years.

Here is a link that might be useful: mum Mei-kyo

I have probably six mums. Three I have had for years and they always come back. Three I bought from Bluestone a year ago in the spring. They were fantastic in the fall and are back this spring already. I just ordered three more.

:-)

'Heather James'

survived a cold winter in Olympia, WA (climate zone 8a)

and now abundantly blooming

It may likely not survive colder climates than this. Out of 20 "exhibition" (large flower) variety mums, this was the only cultivar which ended up surviving and doing well.

As mentioned earlier, mums in colder climates always come back better if planted in the spring. Box stores and even some private nurseries don't put them out for sale then, so mail order would probably be your best bet. If you plant them in the fall, the roots don't have time to settle in before the weather freezes. I'm in zone 6 and I've seen this for myself.