Mums blossom nicely in September and October where I live. I do get some November time out of them too, depending on how mild the weather is acting. I don't think you will get too many weeks out of them though.

There is winter gardening, but it not all about blossoming flowers. You get some blossoms late in the fall and another bunch just before spring. The crocus' are lovely poking through the snow!

You can tend your garden in such a way over the years that you do get a lot of winter color and texture too.

A stunning example of winter gardening
http://www.downeast.com/galleries/118/Sightseeing_LKarlin_snowedin.jpg

The bark of a tree looks quite grand in the simpler winter scape.
http://www.viridis.net/cubg/acer.html

Red is a great winter color.
http://www.viridis.net/cubg/salix.html

"Harry Lauder's Walking Stick" is at its best in the winter! With the foliage, you cannot see the interesting branches.
http://ky-dan.com/images/winter99/walkingstick.jpg
http://www.pathcom.com/~wgbz/sticks.htm

Mums probably too late to get much from them now. Many places are already sold out. Some of my mums, ornamental cabbages/kale, etc. will last until late November but probably not worth it for you now. Like the previous poster said in winter you have to be more creative -- looking at foliage color, bark, berries, evergreens, etc. There are some winter heaths and heathers that I've had good luck with but these are only visible if the snow cover isn't deep. They have both small flowers and foliage color. These are in ground plants not suitable for pots. I often decorate my outdoor planters with cut conifers branches, balsam, winterberries, nuts, dried seed pods, etc. These will last outside for a quite a time before they brown. Or to see what you can do with Ornamental grasses take a look at some photos I took recently at Tower Hill Botanic Garden....

Here is a link that might be useful: Tower Hill Photos - Ornamental Grasses

Evergreen branches, winterberry, spray painted twigs, pine cones - these are the types of things that go in pots and window boxes over the winter. Lots of places do these types of decorations before Christmas.

Pansies will last until the ground freezes, then they go dormant and flower again in the spring. I've seen them still blooming in late December when planted in a sunny and sheltered location, with a layer of lightweight mulch around their base. Look for the brand "Icicle Pansey" and similar. They are very hardy.

evonne put it well - there is winter gardening, but it is not about the blossoms. There are lots of winter interest plants. Personally, I'm still working on this, lol, but I'm trying to make some headway.

Grasses are a nice winter interest plant. I'm trying to overcome my prejudice against them (I've always seen them used primarily in office building/corporate entrance-way settings, so I associate them with that kind of professional-but-no-personal-touch type of garden.) However, my neighbor has a big planting, which, as a matter of fact, I can see from my window right now, and I have come to really like it, especially in winter. And donn over on the Winter-Sowing forum is fast making me a convert!

I've got some cornus alba, red-twigged dogwoods, that are very nice in winter, especially with snowfall. And obviously there are lots of evergreens that look great during the winter.

I bought some spring-planted mums from Bluestone two years ago, and these are consistently gerat performers in late fall. While the store-bought, treat-as-annual mums are long gone, my Bluestone mums are blooming well into late November. Not really winter, I know, but I'll take whatever I can get as late as I can get it, lol. I'm planning on buying some more of these mums next spring.

Some good ideas above also. And in regard to pots, I wanted one year to put some color on my very large brick patio, which is surrounded by a huge square of black asphalt (very dreary in winter). I potted up large specimens of juniper, the red-twigged dogwoods, and a yucca Golden Sword, and they looked great all winter. I lost the yucca and juniper in *spring* sadly, after they were great all winter, but it was worth the money to me for all the joy they gave me in those cold months.

Here's what I aspire to have my garden look like in winter. I've got a bit of a ways to go, lol, and of course, a good snowfall always helps, but when I saw this issue it took my breath away. Makes me glad I live in the north!

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Fine Gardening winter cover