Those gorgeous pots of orange, yellow, and burgundy chrysanthemums seem to appear everywhere once fall arrives. They’re an easy way to brighten a porch or garden after summer flowers begin fading, but there’s one frustrating problem many gardeners encounter: their mums look beautiful for a few weeks, then disappear for good. If you’ve purchased new mums every autumn because last year’s plants never returned, the problem might be how and when you’re planting them.
Learning how to plant mums correctly can help extend their blooms and improve their chances of surviving winter. According to Penn State, chrysanthemums can be reliable perennials when given appropriate growing conditions, but fall-planted specimens don’t always have enough time to establish strong roots. Before spending money on another round of seasonal flowers, here are seven things worth knowing about getting more life out of your mums.
