Master's Tip: Taking Cuttings
Creating new plants from your favorite mums is easy, says Galen Goss, executive director of the National Chrysanthemum Society. Simply snip off a 4-inch stem (be sure it has leaves on it) and put it in a pot with a soilless medium, such as vermiculite. Keep it moist and outdoors, in a bright spot. After a couple of weeks, repot the cutting (which has sprouted roots) to a small container (foam coffee cups with drainage holes work well) filled with potting soil. Fertilize once a week. Two to three weeks later, transplant it into the garden, and keep fertilizing. You'll enjoy flowers that very autumn!
A Mum for Every Purpose
Use shorter cushion mums to carpet a slope. Foot-tall mounds of lush foliage make an attractive groundcover until late summer, when colorful flower heads steal the show.
Start a nursery bed where you can grow your own mums from cuttings. In late summer, transfer the ready-to-bloom plants into the garden, to take the place of tired-looking annuals.
When a killing frost is predicted, pot up your mums and bring them indoors to adorn the Thanksgiving table.
Plant taller varieties for use as cut flowers. After cutting, split the stem ends so they can take up water more efficiently.
5 More Mums You'll Love
To stop traffic: The spider mum 'Senkyo Kenshin' stands 3 1⁄2 feet tall. It blooms midseason, with about 27 striking, reddish-bronze blossoms per plant.
For brilliant color: 'Jessica' has joyful, bright yellow blossoms. This midseason decorative mum is from the Prophets Series.
Does double duty: An old favorite, 'French Vanilla' has 3 1⁄2- inch white flowers. Grow in a mixed border or cutting garden.
Takes the cold: 'Minnautumn' is an extremely cold-hardy—to Zone 3—decorative cushion mum. It's only 15 inches tall, with vivid orange-red flowers.
For the vase: 'Carrousel', a purple quill mum, is an elegant cut flower. Huge blossoms measure up to 4 inches across.
Master's Tip: Taking Cuttings
