To receive our 3 Home, Garden, Recipe and Simple Life articles each week, sign up below for our free email list. If you happen to get a late season mum, you could easily be clearing the garden before they bloom. Talk about a serious savings to the pocketbook! Caring for Mums. But if you dug them up to pot them, you will once again need to overwinter indoors until next spring. Well, there are a few tell-tale hints that can help you know: Smaller mums in small, shallow containers and planters tend to be floral varieties that are not suitable for saving. And when it comes to potted mums, that means indoors for the first winter, and not outside in the ground. Better Homes & Gardens Perennial Gardening; John Wiley & Sons, Taylor's Guide to Perennials; Barbara Ellis. Floral mums also usually tend to have smaller blooms. Occasional supplemental irrigation following blooming is generally only necessary if the plants are grown in an area protected from rainfall or during periods of extended dry weather, so that the soil around the mums does not dry out completely. Mums can be cut back in early summer to avoid early blooming such as this. Simply cut apart into equal sections with a sharp knife or shovel and replant. As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! Step 3 After deadheading, mist the plant lightly and water it in thoroughly. Signs of overwatering include yellow leaves that turn black and fall off. It’s not a perfect science for sure, but a great starting point to know if the mums you are buying or have can be saved. As your garden mums head into summer, you will need to pinch or cut off the blooms of your mums early on. This article may contain affiliate links. Mums prefer rich, fertile and well draining soil, so adding compost when planting is a big key to success. Cease any fertilizer applications and cut back on or completely stop watering. To deadhead the plant, simply use pruning scissors to cut a diagonal line on the stem. ( See : Our Homemade Potting Soil Recipe). No matter if they were in pots, hanging baskets – or even planted in the ground. Not Preparing Your Mums for Winter. Pinching encourages branching, which results in more buds -- but pinching after July removes the buds and reduces bloom. Simple Secrets To Overwinter Your Hardy Mums, (See: How To Care For Mums In The Summer), Fall At The Farm! Garden mums are a true perennial, and with a little fall preparation, can be kept and grown year after year. All of which will help your mums to bloom later in the fall, instead of late summer. Mums can survive light frosts and cold fairly easy, but a hard freeze can kill roots in pots permanently. Best of all, it’s not hard to do. One side note about fall mums. They simply don’t have time to establish in the soil for protection. There's no need to fertilize your "Point Pelee" mum. How to save your mums all depends on what they are in, and how you will be displaying them. What can I do to get them to bloom again? Cut or pinch off individual flowers back to a larger stem as soon as each flower has finished blooming to maintain a somewhat neater appearance, if desired. Will Mums Bloom Twice in a Pot? After this, when wintering mums, it is best to provide a heavy layer of mulch over the plant after the ground has frozen. Stop pinching the stems back after buds form, so as not to interfere with blooming. In addition, pruning helps to delay the timing of the buds that form. Keeping your mums alive from year to year all starts with selecting the right mums at the time of purchase. But what if they are not labeled? As mentioned above, removing wilted blooms and dead stems or leaves helps your mums bloom for an extended time. There are two types of mums that are for sale in the fall – garden mums (hardy mums), and floral mums. You should encourage fuller plant growth by pinching back new growth in spring, readying the mums for the fall blooms. To do their best, chrysanthemums should be planted in well-drained beds that receive at least six hours of sun daily. — … Occasional irrigation can only be deemed necessary during periods of extended dry weather or if the mums are planted in an area that is shielded from rainfall. Pinch the stems between mid-spring and midsummer to promote bushiness. Water chrysanthemums frequently, because they have a shallow root system that … Get mums out of their pots and into the ground soon after purchase. How to Care for Mums After Blooming 1. Did you know that with just a little bit of care, you can save your hardy potted and container mums to grow again next year? Cut the top growth back to the next branching growth area and the plant will produce more stems and bigger, more profuse buds. Here is to overwintering your garden mums and saving them for next year!