I am interested in how others' rainmums plants do in subsequent years. I find a very low survival rate. I attributed this to their late opening hence planting dates and too little time to settle in before winter. But now they are opening earlier. Hope others will report in as time goes by. . I confess to having a 20 year old, deep loyality to Leo Blanchette and jim Seawright. I've bought mums at Rainbow, but I really want my dollars to go to the oldtimers. I might also suggest that smaller locally progated starts are a better long term investment. This is just my opinion, and not meant to criticize anyone else's preferences. Marie

I usually wait too late to plant pansies! I would think late September is a good time. You want to wait until the hot weather is over for good. Mums will overwinter in Oklahoma. The usual advice I have seen is to cut them back twice, once at Memorial Day and once at July 4....usually 1/3 to 1/2. I would not cut them back now, though. They should bloom for you. As I am sure you know, cutting them back will help keep them stouter and less likely to sprawl when they bloom.

rick77072 - Plants know what to do and when and have their own schedules pretty much the same as humans. Yes, fall is slow-down-and-go-dormant time for perennials where we garden but that doesn't mean they won't establish root systems simultaneously. They just do it when their top growth isn't screaming for and demanding moisture to produce blooms. It's sort of relax, it's not as hot now so just do what you know to do without the demands for producing blooms. Here in southern New England, fall is milder temperatures + fewer hours of daylight so the plants have a chance to let their roots get a good grip on the soil that will sustain them the following year when they're expected to send up new growth, produce flower stems & blooms, store nutrients for the coming cold season, etc. I'm no expert; I'm just a gardener who did her homework before designing and planting perennials. Judging by what I see each year when my garden beds wake up, it seems apparent I did things right. So far the only things I've ever lost were short-lived perennials and my only regret is I didn't KNOW they were short-lived when I planted them. I did do a shade study before I even stuck a shovel into the soil or scratched a rough design for a garden bed so I'd know where there was full/part sun or full/part shade in my garden. I knew I had healthy, slightly acidic sandy loam because my parents practiced organic gardening for 40 years before I moved here. I just tucked that knowledge under my belt and started planting. I have lots of photos, just don't know how to post them since GW switched over to Houzz. BTW - GardenWeb folks were informational for me as well when I first stumbled across this form about 11 years ago. There's a lot to be learned.

I always found trying to keep potted plants watered well enough over winter became an issue.... but that's just me. I would get them into the ground and if you are worried about frost heaving.. you could do a good amount of mulch to dampen the freeze and thaw cycle.