Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: MUM is the word for Fall
Fall mums are showing up at local garden centers.
If they’re blooming now, those are early and were forced to bloom to look good in the garden centers. But don’t worry, they will continue to bloom well into the first frost.
There are two kinds of mums. Annuals and perennials. The Latin name for the perennial, fall-flowering form is Chrysanthemum x morifolium.
The perennial, fall-flowering form is Chrysanthemum x morifolium and the annual variety is Chrysanthemum multicaule. If your plant came without identification, note that the annuals have thinner, strappy leaves that are not as toothed as the perennials, which are wide and deeply notched. Gardeningknowhow
If your plant didn’t have a tag, just remember that the annuals have thinner, strappy leaves that are not as toothed as the perennials, which are wide and deeply notched.
The University of Minnesota developed Mammoth Mums and other mums hardy to zone 3! Amazing.
The branded Mammoth mums are named appropriately as they grow to about 3 ft. tall and about 4 ft. wide by their 2nd year (depending on variety)! Minnesota mums are smaller but just as lovely. Igloo (trademarked) mums are another hardy variety but some say they are hardy only to zone 5… your call!
If you just want some fall color and maybe don’t have room in your perennial beds, then maybe the annual fall mum suits you best. I’m going to look for a couple of mammoth mums, myself! There are 8 varieties of Mammoth mums. Read more on all the UofM’s mum introductions.
The UofMN’s mum breeding program is one of the oldest public sector breeding programs in the world and the only one in North America. The cushion habit of mums, a genetic discovery of the U mum breeders, was the basis for the University’s first plant patent, in 1977, for ‘Minngopher.’
Annuals are just that, plant ‘em and enjoy ‘em for the season then toss them on the compost pile. Proven Winners offers a ton of annual mums (they call them garden mums). You can find many annual mums at all the local garden centers! Shop there (not the grocery store… although some local garden centers supply them).
An interesting tidbit I found was that tests show garden mums survive the winter better when the above-ground dead plant stems are not cut back in the fall. This technique is also beneficial with other herbaceous perennials.