Mums

Chrysanthemums or Mums, as I call them are one of my favorite perennials, they are so beautiful in the fall, when the skies are grey, and the leaves are falling, they add the last pop of color before the long grey Winter sets in.

 

What is your favorite perennial?

 

Not only do mums add a great pop of color they are super easy to grow.  If I can grow them anyone can!  I did not know, when I first planted them, that you need to cut back your mums in June if  you want your mums to be full and bloom in the Fall. Luckily I have a mother-n-law who is not afraid to give me unsolicited advise.  Which I gladly and freely take when it comes to gardening and really most anything…..bring it on, there is always room to learn, right?  I am very thankful for her pruning advice, because now in the Fall my mums are full, and bursting with color!

 

The rule of thumb is, if you want your mums to bloom in the Fall pinch off the buds as they come on.  As you can see I let mine get a little past the bud pinching stage.  I use July 4th as my guide, I always make sure that I cut my mums back before the 4th.  But this year life went whizzing by me and before I knew it my mums where in bloom! YIKERS!

 

I decided to prune them back anyway and hope for the best.  So I got out my trusty wheelbarrow, my purple gloves, and my trimming sheers. Ta Daaaa!

 

And I went to town. I was like a perimenopausal Edward Scissorhands. It was something else.

This is what my chrysanthemums look like now. Not so purdy. Have no fear. They will grow back. Fuller, and loaded with blooms. Every year when I cut them back I think, OH Goodness what have I done!! But then just like my mother-n-law said, they grow back and are full of beauteous flowers! She didn’t exactly use the word beauteous, she might have said spectacular. Whatever she said, I am very thankful for her advice.

I will return with pictures of my mums in full Autumn bloom…for now you’re going to have to trust me on this one.  If you have mums in your landscaping and have never trimmed them back so they bloom in the Fall go do it now…times a wastin’!

 

Hey!  Do you say Fall or Autumn?

 

Have a great day! Sheeelah