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It may be August, but
believe it or not, garden mums are now available in your local garden
stores. So I thought I’d give you a few tips about choosing mums for
lasting colors.
More garden mums are
sold each year than any other perennial. They can be planted spring, mid
summer, and fall, come in a wide array of colors, and truly are the flower
of the fall season.
But when you’re choosing
mums to be planted this time of the year, it’s important to look at the size
of the flower buds, and how much color is actually showing, to help
determine how long your mums will be in flower.
If you choose a mum in
early to mid August that is showing colors like this one, it means that it
will probably stay in color for about another 4-5 weeks, depending on the
weather. The warmer it is the shorter period of colors. So this mum will
be good for colors thru early to mid September at best. Perfect for those
Labor Day parties!
But choosing a mum that
is showing no color right now, will give you fall colors later in the
season. So if you’re planting for later fall colors, chose mums that have
very tight buds, or just starting to develop their flower buds. Now you’re
talking fall colors beginning early September and lasting until early
October, again depending on the weather.
If you’ve had problems
getting garden mums to over winter, remember that planting early rather than
later will help increase your chances of getting your mums to come back next
year. |
