You know fall has arrived when you sight the first mum budding open in prolific blooms. The Growing Place grows thousands of mums and fall color annuals each year. Chrysanthemums start in our greenhouse and are transferred outdoors in late June for space to grow. Ready to decorate your doorstep now til frost, mums are here in a variety of colors and sizes.
Size, Type, & Color
TGP offers 4”, 8” and 10” annual mums in colors ranging from orange to bronze, pink to burgundy, lavender to deep purple, and white to harvest yellow. There are mums in hanging baskets and a few large varieties in 16” containers. Green foliage and mounded blooms attract butterflies, with the outer flower petals longer than the central petals, creating a large, flat space to land and feast.
Many of the mums are just now ready to pop into full color. This is important because it means you get the full extent of bloom time at home. Once a mum is in full bloom, it lasts about 3 weeks.
Early blooming mums flower late August to mid-September. Mid season mums bloom mid-September to late September. Late blooming mums flower late September to early October. Usually, the blooms will last longer on the larger sizes. Ask our Annuals staff to help you select some of each to enjoy mums for months!
Care, Display, & Extended Bloom Time
Mums perform best in full sun and well-drained, rich soil. Chrysanthemums grow 18”-24” H x 18”-24” W or 12”-18” H x 12”-18” W. Handle gently and water in the morning at the bottom base of the plant to avoid wet leaves that attract mildew and insects. If there is over a half inch of rain during the day or night, mums may not need any watering for the day. Read our watering instructions.
Smaller mums are a highlight when mixed with fall annuals in a container design. Complimentary fillers such as Marigolds, ornamental Peppers, Rudbeckia, Pansies, Petunias, and Dusty Miller work well for contrasting color and texture. Choose from Lysmachia, Petchoa, or Wire Vine for cold tolerant, colorful spillers. Add height and drama to the center or back of your container with Pennisetum, Millet, Carex, or ornamental perennial grasses. We have Grab ‘n Go fall container combinations available and can make custom designs if you want us to do the work for you.
Our 8”, 10”, and 16” annual mums can be left in their pots for a fall display with pumpkins, or placed inside your outdoor containers. Mums in containers can be moved out of direct sunlight and protected from frost to extend bloom time. Keep in mind plants in containers usually need to be watered more frequently than plants in the ground.
If planting in the ground, place mums 18” to 24″ apart in well-drained soil enriched with compost in a spot where they get full sun. Plant mums to fill holes left by fading annuals and add rich fall color to your yard. Even though some garden mums could potentially return the following spring, they are not reliably hardy. Our annual mums are grown to give you lots of color in the fall but are not meant to survive our cold winters. If hardiness is important to you, check out our selection of perennials mums.
Deadheading, or removing the spent blooms, will encourage the lower buds to mature and extend the bloom time. Pinch or clip the spent blooms off where the first set of leaves intersect. Protecting the flowers from frost will keep them looking their best and also lengthen the bloom time. And remember, planting early, mid, and late season varieties will give you months of color.
