I'm in the same zone. My mums come back and bloom well, if I remember where they are and don't pull them thinking they're weeds (and if the woodchuck hasn't eaten them to death)! I try to cut them back at least 3 times so they stay low to the ground. I don't fertilize them because my soil's pretty good. Asters, on the other hand, have never returned.

Some of mine come back, mainly the Sheffieds and other old varieties. I've had mixed results with newer types.

I think mums do best planted in spring; I've heard that it's best to buy small plants from a nursery that pays attention to what's hardy - not a place that is selling plants in full bloom and aiming to appeal to impulse shoppers. Nothing wrong with Home Depot, but they don't necessarily think that you care whether your mums come back next year.

I would be really surprised if beetles were the actual cause of the death of your mums last spring! Large, in-flower potted mums may be somewhat root-bound, and the planting medium is so different from garden soil that the roots may never grow into the surrounding area. This gives the plants almost no chance of surviving a few hot sunny spring days without water.

I don't know if you had the weird drown-and-parch spring weather that we had here on the cape, but unless you were vigilant about checking these young plants for moisture, that could have been the problem - with the beetles just cleaning up after mother nature.

Good luck with this new batch - For best results, I'd make sure they're well mulched, keeping the material away from the stems a bit, but definitely over the line where the potting medium meets the native soil. Also, they need to be planted in a well-prepared bed, with perfect drainage, not in single holes dug to fit the root balls. They need to have adequate moisture up until the real winter weather hits, and, in the spring, they'll need to be watered if we have less than an inch of rain in any 7 day period.

With a little luck, you'll have lots of flowers next fall!

Thanks chardie and digginginthedirt.

I am pretty sure it was the beetles cause in may the mums came back all gorgeous with fresh green leaves but come July in a matter of days the leaves were eaten to the bare stem by the darn beetles.

I had another post on this forum where I learnt that those were the cookery red Asian beetles. I used to get them in the house as well for 2 months on July and august. This spring I will be better prepared for them.

When I first started gardening I planted some 'hardy mums' for several years and was always disappointed that they didn't survive. I gave up on mums for several years, but then discovered truly perennial mums. I have two mums that I've had for more than 15 years.
Chrysanthemum weyrichii 'White Bomb' is an unobtrusive groundcover for much of the year.

This mum I have no name for and am not sure if it ever had one. It is about 1 1/2 feet tall and doesn't begin blooming until mid-October. In reality it is more copper colored than this pinkish shade.

There are a couple of threads on the perennial forum about various hardy mums that are really perennial.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0812381418132.html?50

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg1016421810814.html?12

The link below is for a mail order nursery who was recommended for its initially small but fast-growing mums by someone on the perennial forum. There is a pretty good range of colors and bloom types. Bluestone Perennials also has perennial mums, and one of mine I got at a local nursery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mums From Minnesota, Faribault Growers

Thanks nhbabs, you mums are gorgeous! I can't wait till April, to see what comes back and what doesn't.

Hi, nhbabs:

May I ask what the light purple flower is in your white bomb picture? Is it an iris. Do you know where I might find it? Thank you!

Greendale

Greendale, it looks like a Colchicum - less stiff than iris. It's a beauty, I'll second that!