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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

There's hope for my sad mums, isn't there?

When you buy a plant, you hope it will last longer than a month. Sometimes, weather just doesn't cooperate.


I bought a couple of mums back in early September. And they were doing great for a while. And then last week, I noticed the blooms were all droopy and withered. I checked the soil, and it was damp enough. So I began thinking maybe a light frost had hit them. One of my daughters had commented that around the 1st of the month it was quite cold in the morning when she left for classes. So, perhaps that's what happened.


Anyway, I cut all off the sad, limp blooms off, and found a bunch of new buds forming. There's hope yet!

I also moved the pots to the back door, on the south side of the house, where they will get more sun and warmth. I may bring them indoors, to enjoy in November for a few weeks. They do have a nice russet coloring that would be perfect for our home in these next few weeks.

Just wondering if anyone, here, has had success bringing garden mums indoors for a spell? Does it bother you, too, when you buy a plant like a mum, and it only lasts a few weeks? I like to think I get my money's worth, when I buy something.

16 comments:

  1. I dislike spending money on flowers that last only a little while as well. I did have some very good luck buying a hanging basket very early this summer and was still looking beautiful up until a week ago--in OCTOBER! I always see my flowers die about mid-August but this one kept blooming and it still have blooms but the green is starting to die off. Kind of looks like we haven't watered it but we have. Maybe a natural time to die? I don't know. I quit buying mums and stuff like that because they don't last long. I do buy a few petunias and make my own hanging baskets for the back yard though I do buy one for the front yard. It is that time of year where it is starting to get colder and these plants just can't survive.

    Alice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,
      Wow! What a long run with the one flowering basket you bought! You were able to enjoy its flowers for a long time.

      I may bring these two pots indoors later this week, and see if I can't enjoy blooms a little longer. Part of me doesn't want the flowers to be gone for winter, and part of me wants to get my money's worth.

      Delete
  2. First frost is still a good bit away for us, so the mums will be bloomed out by the time it gets here. I try to plant them when they are through and most of the time they bloom the next year.h but ask me about over-wintering a hibiscus. So far I have only had one survive until the next spring. Bummer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anne,
      I've never grown an hibiscus. They do look beautiful!
      I've had one or two mums return the following year. But it only works here if we have a mild winter. I may try planting them in the ground later next month, and see what happens in spring.

      Delete
  3. I haven't had luck with mums lasting very long either, Lili. I have tried having them in the pot and I have also tried planting them in the ground. I don't know why they don't last...
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mary,
      so it isn't just me. I had troubles with the mums last year, too. I'm going to see what I can do with this year's mums. I'd like to get one more flush of blooms, at least.

      Delete
  4. I seem to get about 4-6 weeks out of my potted mums, but I'm not exactly a green thumb kind of a person, so maybe you shouldn't go with my experience! I try to put off buying mums till October and then hope to get through mid-November with them. Mine are kept potted on the porch steps--when frost threatens, I bring them up near the house under the overhang to try to preserve them as long as possible. Right now I have a mixture of pumpkins, mums, and my summer begonias out front--the begonias have been doing amazingly well (as has a pink and green leafy plant in my pots called "polka-dot plant") and I don't have the heart to relegate them to the back patio yet ... my neighbors probably think I don't know what season it is, but oh well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI Kris,
      your porch sounds charming with all of the plants, flowers and pumpkins you've got going on there! Very welcoming!

      Delete
  5. I think mums never seem to last very long because the growers train them to have a lot of blooms at a certain time and not to be long lasting plants. I have never brought them inside, but I have planted several plants that others have tossed when they stated to fade. Some of have survived and come back year after year and some haven't. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. My mums in the ground would probably do better in more sun, but I don't have a sunny spot for them at this point in time

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      that makes a lot of sense, about the growers cultivating the mums specifically for abundant blooms, all in a brief window.

      I'll scout around my garden for a sunny spot, for transplanting these into, and just maybe they'll come back. That would be very nice!

      Delete
  6. I've haven't brought Mums indoors to try, Lili. They sure are beautiful. I love the yellow ones as they seem to bright and cheery to me. Of course, the russet colored ones are just perfect to go along with the fall colors. It's great that yours had blooms underneath the foliage that died. May have been a light frost and not enough to do any major damage. I hope they do well on the south side of the house for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Belinda,
      Oh, I agree -- the yellow ones are cheery! A friend brought me a small yellow mum a couple of weeks ago, for indoors. Its been on our kitchen table since, and is very bright and cheerful.

      I am hoping that these plants will bounce back and give me more blooms. Crossing fingers and toes!

      Delete
  7. I had mums last for 3 years once. I had them in deep/wide pots. They would grow out and bloom, die and I would wait until they were dried out and trim them back. By that time, they would be sprouting again at the base. They went through mild freezes and frosts close to my house under a covered porch. A prolonged freeze finally did them in.they were cheap mums from Walmart or Lowes here in the Deep South.
    -Doc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Doc,
      Hmmm, you're giving me hope that I can maybe do something with these mums!

      Delete
  8. I got 2 beautiful huge mums for $11.00 for both about a month ago, they are so big that the wind kept blowing them over as I guess the pots were too small for the plant. Well we had a pretty stormy night a couple weeks ago & when they blew over one got damaged so we moved them to the flower bed at the side of the house & put the one that got damaged with the bad side hidden against the house & it looks fine & you do not even notice. Guess that may teach me that biggest is not always best!
    Rhonda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rhonda,
      It sounds like you've made the very most of the situation with the mums! Sometimes, that's the best we can do.

      My own mums are hanging in there, on the deck, now (instead of front porch). I'm keeping an eye on them, and still hopeful for more blooms. I'll have to bring them indoors in another week or so, though, as the last week of October gets very cold here.

      Enjoy your mums while they last!

      Delete

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