Chrysanthemums, the queen of the fall flowers, were first grown in China in the15th century B.C. When they made their way to Japan in the 8th century A.D., the Japanese adopted the flower as the crest and official seal of the Emperor. The Imperial Order of the Chrysanthemum is the highest order of chivalry, and the Japanese celebrate National Chrysanthemum Day – the Festival of Happiness.
A sharp contrast to the love and honor the chrysanthemum enjoys in Asia is the way it is used in European countries. There, the chrysanthemum is known as the “death flower,” and is used almost exclusively at funerals and on graves.
Here in America, across the country, mums are the most commercially grown flowers. Vast, colorful displays of mums line the shelves of nurseries, garden centers, and home improvement warehouses in fall. Mums are easy to cultivate, come in a variety of colors, and bloom “on schedule.” Flower arrangers and gardeners prize them for cut flower arrangements. Their beauty can last for weeks.
Mums give us a burst of color before the drab winter. In addition to white, yellow, and bronze, you’ll find shades of pink, lavender, and maroon.
With nearly a dozen flower forms to choose from, you can grow mums that look like pastel daisies, or fluffy quilled zinnias, or refined dahlias, or maybe the large, fancy ones with in-curving petals called "football" mums. The chrysanthemum palette includes every color but blue, and the holding time for blossoms, even in a vase, is measured in weeks rather than days. Mums are the perfect perennials to let into your beds.
The most popular flower form is "decorative," dahlia-like blossoms so packed with long, broad petals that you can hardly see their center eyes, even when the flowers are completely open. One of the advantages of the decorative flower form is that the many layers of petals make the flowers last a long, long time. As the petals on the back of the blossom fade, new ones from the center give the flower a freshly opened appearance.
Chrysanthemums will reward you with beauty year round. They aren’t picky about exposure, soil or water conditions, but do prefer full sun, well-drained soil, and moderate water. Insect and disease problems are rare. Mums provide fresh spring foliage, attractive summer shapes, fall flowers, and winter interest to the garden.
Mums bloom in fall because the shortening days (and lengthening nights) of late summer trigger flowering. Some react more quickly than others; these are the early bloomers. Mid-season and late bloomers respond more slowly to changes in day length. Choose from among the variety of bloom times for the perfect combination of mums.
Field-grown mums, grown in your local area, will be more likely to survive their first winter in your garden. Blooming mum plants can be planted in the garden in fall with a little extra care. Here's how to help them survive their first winter in the ground.
Select bushy, well-branched plants with small, leafy stems emerging from the base of the plants, or sprouting around the edge of the pot. The earlier you plant, the longer your mums will have to develop good root systems – a crucial factor in determining winter hardiness.
Choose a very well-drained location. More fall-planted mums die from root rot than from the effects of low temperatures.
Dig a planting hole twice as wide as the plant's root ball and set each plant in the planting hole one inch deeper than it grew in its nursery pot; spread out the roots.
When the flowers die, trim back tops very slightly, just enough to remove the dead blossoms. Mulch with a layer of shredded dry leaves over the plants' crowns. Remove the mulch gradually in spring, removing the mulch all at once may cause the tender new growth to die.
When growth resumes in spring (or just after transplanting), work some compost into the soil around each plant.
When treated this way, your mums will be more likely to survive their first winter and give you many more years of enjoyment in exchange for minimal care.
Start your own beautiful autumn garden with these low-maintenance, high-satisfaction plants. Then sit back and watch them put on their show.
Lori Pelkowski, The Midnight Gardener, May all your weeds be dandelions from a child