Mums: Garden versus Fall

Now is the time of year when beautiful mums appear at Trees Today Nursery, grocery stores, and home stores.  These are called “fall” or annual mums.  Their colors are an assortment of reds, oranges, bronzes, yellows, whites, and many more.  They look beautiful sitting in pots on front porches or placed in gardens.  However, they generally do not survive being replanted in the garden in  Zone 4 (our area of Wisconsin and Minnesota).  If they do survive a winter, chances are they will not survive the following winter.  If you succeed in overwintering a fall mum in your garden, to get a bushy blooming mum in fall you need to start pinching it back in July or chances are it will become stringy and lanky.

Garden mums are the perennial mums hardy to Zone 3.  At Trees Today we carry Mammoth Mums that were bred at the University of Minnesota for endurance and cold.  Once planted in your garden they may grow to 3-3 1/2  feet wide by 3-4 feet tall.  Their colors are limited, but their abundant blooms are very showy and last for weeks.  Also, these mammoth mums do not need any pinching.

Orange fall mum
Photo from Trees Today Nursery

Mammoth lavender mum
Photo by Trees Today Nursery