Marie, I still have Mums. I bought a few from Bluestone Perennials. One that I enjoy is the 'Amber Morning' which they still offer. I like it because it is a single that provides for pollinators. Unfortunately, it is really late to open. It just opened this past week.

I also have bought some locally in the fall, and use them in containers then when they are done, I dig them in without knowing if they will survive our winters. I've been surprised at how many have.

I love Mums and wouldn't be without them. I do pinch them all back in late spring to delay opening in the fall, or they bloom too soon for me. Other than that, I really don't treat them any differently than any other perennial and they perform well for me every year.

The only mature mum I have now is Sheffield Pink. I thought I had lost all four of them last winter, but one made it through very well with many blooms but reduced overall size, and a second has worked hard to recover with just a few blooms, but lots of healthy foliage.

I really struggle with liking the rust-colored and glaring yellow mums, which means I have to be choosy. I purchased two Clara Curtis this spring to replace my lost Sheffields, as local nurseries didn't carry it. Claras are very very tiny right now. One ended up being right next to the recovered Sheffield, so it was fairly shaded and has been moved. Hoping they survive well. I believe they bloom earlier, which is a huge bonus for me. My Sheffield just began blooming a week ago.

One I'd love to try is Mary Stoker, which is available from Bluestone. The yellow develops a pink hue, which might be a good yellow for me. I'd love feedback on mums that aren't the typical fall color. I love it when the leaves turn those fall hues, but for some reason I just don't like mums in those colors.

As for pinching, I pinched mums hard last year, asters not enough. This year the mums were not punchable as they were recovering from winter, but I did pinch my asters vigorously. Next year I'm going to start pinching very very early for both of these plants. I'm wondering if I delayed my aster blooms this year.

deanna your 'Clara Curtis' will bulk up to become a nice full clump. i have had mine for decades and they are beyond reliable.

Do try 'Mary Stoker'! I adore the peachy colour and again it is very reliable.

I bought a hardy mum last fall, can't remember the name, that looked great on the nursery bench but when it bloomed in my garden this year, I couldn't stand the color -- it was a rusty color that looked terrible with other blooming plants in the vicinity. Sure looked more red to me on the bench...sigh. Needless to say, it went off to the yard recycling pile.

Normally, though, I buy the "bedding" mums that are for sale everywhere starting around mid-August, and I slip them into my pottery. I treat them as fall annuals - come September-ish, a majority of the warm-season annuals start to look raggedy so it works out well. This year I didn't get any though. The "Yellow Magellan" zinnias on the front walkway were still blooming beautifully and looking healthy, they're just now starting to wind down, so I figured there was no need to get any mums.

What I did get this year, though, for the beds is hardy aster "Purple Dome". Now that color looks fantastic in my beds! Hopefully I can get the two I bought to return -- never had any luck with having asters come back at my other house, but maybe because this is an old tried-and-true cultivar and different conditions at this house, they will do fine. Guess I'll find out...

Thanks for the responses. I'd like to do a "mum swap" next year. I wonder if we could pull it off from our various locations.

I can't keep track of which mum is which unless I label them.

After reading for a couple hours I am not sure of my ids. Alright, I'm going outside to take photos. Then I'm going to try to post them. Cross your fingers!

Mary Stoker is lovely.

pm2 Looking at Amber moon.....

I also don't like a rusty red or a yellow. Right now I have orange, which seems to be a color that is very popular in fall. I paired that with a lavender color mum that works well. Then I have the Amber Morning which is a golden yellow and works better with fall colors. I have one white mum that I've divided and have added in a few places. It looks nice with the grasses and with some alyssum that is really blooming well around it's base right now. It also is good paired with Amber Morning. I really enjoy clear reds too, which I may try at some point, if I can figure where to add one.

I'll try to take a photo later...

No yellows for me either.

I do have a patch of orange. I pulled them all a few years ago....thankfully one survived as they have really grown on me.

I also have white, burgundy and different shades of the pink/mauve...which are now my least favs, but I’m trying to make them work Lol. They really are too pretty to get rid of, so I’m trying to mix them into just the right spots.

Beautiful morning out there....

Amber Morning Mum with Sedum

Houzz is still having problems with posting photos. It allowed me to post one in the last comment, and I'll try it again....

White Mum with Alyssum

LOVE that line of Sheffields! White mum looks great with Alyssum.

*mumble mumble**

I just wrote a post, loaded a couple pictures and then saw it all disappear as I waited for it to submit....

short version:

-love the row of Sheffield, what a perfect way to wrap up autumn!

-have a couple supposedly large flowered-show worthy varieties but as of yet have done nothing to raise them to their potential, so as of now (and for the past three years) they're still just pretty average.

....and the pictures still won't work.

PM2,

The white is pristine. Any idea at all of its name?

Marie

katob - I had the same trouble trying to post. I had to do it twice. It seems to me, you have to take your time, there is a significant pause from the time you hit the submit button and the site accepts your post. And if you get impatient and hit the submit button twice, it makes it worse. I don't think this site should have this much trouble, but it does.

Marie, I bought that white at Bluestone - it's their 'Starlight' that they still offer.

'Amber Morning' is the gold. It's still available. I've bought a number of others from Bluestone in the past - 'Grandchild' was one - 'Medicine Bow' was another. Grandchild was a pretty color but, it bloomed too early despite debudding in spring and it opened flowers a few at a time and was annoying that it had dead blooms and new blooms at the same time. I don't see where 'Medicine Bow' is this season.

The orange I've bought locally that was unnamed and uncertain it would be hardy, but it has been for years.

I like buying them from Bluestone, because they are named and because they have always been dependably hardy.

I buy bedding mums too, I think they are great to tuck into borders for a pop of color in the Fall. I'm lazy and don't pinch back in late Spring, so many of my garden mums get tall and leggy and flop.

I love mums in the fall garden. Here's a few pics of some I planted last fall. I purchased them at Lowe's so they aren't named. The white one was pinched back in early July and is absolutely huge! The pink one behind the sedum, was not pinched and flopped in the middle. The smaller reddish one barely survived the winter but is doing good now. It came out a darker red, then turned kinda orangish red and now looks more bronze to me. This year I purchased one at a local nursery that is called Cool Igloo. We'll see how it does next year. I read the Igloo series are supposed to be good garden plants. Anyone else have experience with Igloo mums?

Schoolhouse - so how does that work to have the mums tall and floppy? Especially when they get wet.

Linda - I love your white Mum - it has a single yellow center? I’ll have to look at Lowes. Is that dark purple an aster? And the other lighter purple is a mum, right? It all looks great together.

Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that mums are another of those northern flowers, usually not doing as well down here. Then again, we can grow like salvia greggii and crinums, so we will be ok with those.

I do enjoy looking at pictures of thriving ones in northern gardens though.

Slighly off topic, but does anyone grow the fall asters along with their mums?

Prairiemoon2, The white mum does have yellow in the center but it is not quite a single flower like the pink one is. The dark purple is Purple Dome aster and there is also Vibrant Dome aster back behind the white mum. Peeking in on the left is another aster called Henry I.

I am really happy with the asters, I planted them last year and this year everything got so much bigger. The asters have been blooming since around the 1st of September and they still look good even after a few nights in the mid 20's. I did not pinch the asters and they have stayed in a nice shape and are not floppy.

Here's another pic of the white mum earlier in September.

dbarron - You are lucky to be able to grow the Salvias and Crinums that I can't. :-) . I love Salvias, but very few do well for me and those I like the most are not hardy here.

In my photo above of the gold mum with the sedum, on the left of a photo is an aster that had already gone by.

That white mum is a real performer! We just had rain here and the flower heads were so heavy with rain, most of them are looking pretty floppy right now. And I'm surprised your aster lasted so long, I only have one and it only bloomed for about 3 weeks and now has brown dead flowers all over it.

Prairiemoon2, even here it's a toss up to figure out which salvias do well and which lantanas will reliably overwinter. Darned humid subtropical climates. But gardening is fun with constant learning.

Prairiemoon, the tall floppy mums bloom great but obviously don't look as nice if they had been pinched back and shorter. Esp. in the borders, where they flop towards the sun or over other plants. On the other hand, you could say they look "natural". : )

Schoolhouse - that is a good way of putting it, they look natural. :-) I actually like tall floppy plants in some situations. I don't really have those situations any more. My front sunny garden is too public and needs to be neater. But I bet they look great with grasses.

DBarron - What is more fun than gardening? ;-)

You got that right. I enjoy drooling over web pages (or catalogs), making lists, ordering, waiting on the plants to arrive (not so much), then planting the boogers and watching them grow.

well look at that. Pictures aren't disappearing on me anymore :)

Unfortunately a frost last weekend made the dahlia disappear, but the chrysanthemum is still ok although it's not my favorite shade.

Here are the last of the monarchs warming up in the sun while snacking.

Our late blooming mum (which we overwinter in the garage):

Rouge21, your mum is very pretty! How often do you water it during the winter. I am planning on keeping a few potted mums in the garage this winter. My garage does stay above freezing, usually around 40 degrees.

I have an "Igloo" mum in yellow. It's very hardy and supposedly doesn't need pinching. I can't help myself and in mid-July chop in down with hedge shears. It turns into huge plant with many, many blooms. It comes in other colors but I haven't seen it for sale around here. I bought it while visiting Dayton Nursery in Ohio.

Jerseygirl, I bought a Cool Igloo mum this year, it is a raspberry color. I am just gonna let it be next year and see what happens!

Hello Linda.

I make sure the mum is completely dormant before bringing into the garage. This wont happen for my location until possibly into December. After that I throw a handful of snow/ice onto the pot when I remember....maybe once a month or so, Good luck.

I saw a few fancier ones at the NY botanical garden this weekend. I liked them :)

OH, WOW! Those are something else!

Katob, Wow! They certainly are amazing! I love them!

purple hair, ballet tutus, sesame street character, fireworks in November and obviously, what happens when a designer gets her hands on a purple mum.

Well, katob, I saw that photo on your blog. Very happy to know who the blogger is. You always have great posts with good details and photos!

Thanks Deanna, glad to know you've read it, I sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself!

Katob, I've read it too and enjoy it!

thanks Linda :)

The last chrysanthemum to bloom. A self-sown seedling likely from some porch decorations so I have no idea where it comes from, but all the rest are frozen and dried up now. Being right next to the porch probably helps protect it.

Wow. It is really not a traditional fall subdued color. It's a lovely gentle pink, but not a pink that looks like it's been mixed with dirty dishwater (which are, honestly, my true feelings about some mum colors). That's a keeper!