Author Topic: Mums  (Read 16946 times)

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Offline duh

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Mums
« on: Jul 09, 2007, 09:25:31 AM »
Since I don't have much blooming I've decided to quit pruning the mums and let them bloom.  a few have already started to bloosom but not the entire plant in the front yet and there are no blooms on the back one yet.  But I can't wait to see them. 

I will definitely divide the one in the front pot this fall.  I should be able to get 5 plants out of it.  One I will keep indoors and the rest I will replant 3 in the back yard and one back in the planter.

And the one that I have in the back is much smaller but I'll divide it after I've amended the soil and only split it in half.  Then I'll put one in the front in the other container and leave the other one in the back. 

I love mums for fall color.


Offline Dianna

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Re: Mums
« Reply #1 on: Jul 09, 2007, 09:38:19 AM »
I love mums, too, Duh. There are a lot of different colors out there and I just can never decide which color that I love the best. I love the rust color, but then I will see a vibrant red or yellow or purple, etc... :grinnnn:
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Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #2 on: Jul 10, 2007, 05:27:46 AM »
I would like to add a cream colored one to my garden.  I think with the burgandy that would be fantastic.  And your right about there being many colors to choose from.  Did you also know that their are thirteen different types of cultivators of the mum? 

I was researching them back awhile ago and ran into a website with all kinds of information on them.  It was fun finding out stuff about them. 

One thing I found out the hard way is if they aren't divided they are short lived.  I lost 3 of my original bushes because I didn't divide them the first year when I got them home.  They were the overgrown ones that are sold at a discount at the grocery store.  I had no idea they were old plants.  Well at least for mums. lol.

MassMama

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Re: Mums
« Reply #3 on: Jul 10, 2007, 06:00:30 AM »
Really??? I haved had mine for a good 7 years now and they come back up looking better every year!!

Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #4 on: Jul 10, 2007, 01:37:48 PM »
That's great, I'm relying on research and everything on the internet isn't 100%.  Do you divide them or just leave them alone?

My neighbor doesn't grow them anymore because they were very short lived for her too.

MassMama

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Re: Mums
« Reply #5 on: Jul 11, 2007, 12:25:50 PM »
I have never divided them or anything... they die down in the winter and pop back up in the spring.. all I ever do is water them...

Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #6 on: Jul 12, 2007, 06:31:10 AM »
That is so cool.  What zone are you in?

MassMama

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Re: Mums
« Reply #7 on: Jul 12, 2007, 08:27:24 AM »
I am in zone 6 Northern Massachusetts right near the Hew Hampshire boarder..

Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #8 on: Jul 12, 2007, 02:55:11 PM »
I hope my mums are like your mums because I love the colors I have and don't want to loose them.

Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #9 on: Jul 13, 2007, 12:55:24 PM »
I always think of more questions after I post a topic.  Sorry, I don't mean to do it but my mind is alittle slow.

Does anyone know how early in the fall I can begin dividing the mums?  And how large each section should be?

The reason I'm asking is that one is so large that it is crowding everything else out of the container. 

So I would like to take divisions out around the edges so there is more room for everything else. 

MassMama

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Re: Mums
« Reply #10 on: Jul 17, 2007, 07:06:43 AM »
Uggg I just pushed esc and there went my post LOL
I have never moved mine either so I am not sure when the best time to divide them would be most other flowers are early spring before growth!!

Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #11 on: Aug 04, 2007, 09:47:56 AM »
Thanks for the information. 

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #12 on: Aug 04, 2007, 10:36:35 AM »
Duh, mums should be divided in the spring after the last hard frost and after you start to see new growth starting.  :)

For winter protection, I would always mulch with about 3-4" of mulch and they would come back.  I'm in zone 6a.
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Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #13 on: Aug 04, 2007, 01:40:51 PM »
Thanks patches.  I don't think I can leave them in the containers over the winter.  And there is nowhere I could put mulch around them because they have literally overgrown the container.  And it's 3 feet across.  I had no idea they would get that big.

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #14 on: Aug 04, 2007, 01:48:26 PM »
Can you plant them in the ground now and mulch around them in the winter???   :SmileyQmarks:
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Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #15 on: Aug 05, 2007, 05:43:29 AM »
The landlord likes them where they are so they have to stay there until they are finished blooming.  Then I can remove them to the back and mulch them heavily along with bringing in some of the herbs and putting others in the back.   I was hoping that at the same time I transplanted them I could divide them but it sounds like that isn't a good idea huh?

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #16 on: Aug 05, 2007, 07:04:59 PM »
Duh, I've always heard that Chrysanthemums should be divided in the spring when the new growth first starts coming up.  ;)  I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to do it in the fall when they're trying to settle in for a long winter's nap!   :unsure:
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Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #17 on: Aug 13, 2007, 04:49:52 AM »
I guess I'll just have to wait for the spring then.  I hope I'm still here then.

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #18 on: Aug 13, 2007, 02:47:34 PM »
Actually, Duh, Chrysanthemums are extremely easy to propagate from cuttings, so why don't you take some cuttings and try starting them in pots.  :idea:
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Offline duh

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Re: Mums
« Reply #19 on: Aug 14, 2007, 05:14:29 AM »
I did that and your right I was very sucessful.  But the parent plant is outgrowing the container it is in.  So it needs to be divided.  And it can't stay in it's current container over the winter because it would freeze and I would loose it.

Interesting thing about the cuttings.  Their flowers bloom mostly yellow while the parent plant is burgandy.  Can you shed any light on that?

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #20 on: Aug 14, 2007, 11:58:44 PM »
Quote
the parent plant is outgrowing the container it is in.  So it needs to be divided.  And it can't stay in it's current container over the winter because it would freeze and I would loose it. 

Well, Duh, I can't say I always follow the rules of gardening, because I don't.  :smileyNo: Back in July, when we had a "COLD" spell and the temperatures were way below normal, I was transplanting and dividing some of my plants.   :yikes:  I moved some of my Asiatic and Oriental Lilies, divided my 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis, as well as some of my Shasta Daisies, Dianthus, 'Stella De Ora' and some other Daylilies and they all took root and are doing well.  :ThumbUp: However, if you're experiencing these extremely hot temperatures where you live, I know that NOW would definitely NOT be a good time to try this.   :smileyNo: :smileyNo: :smileyNo:  I would wait until it gets much cooler and make sure you get a lot of the dirt in each division.  :feedback:

Quote
Interesting thing about the cuttings.  Their flowers bloom mostly yellow while the parent plant is burgandy.  Can you shed any light on that?

Geesh, I don't know about cutting, but, several years ago, when I worked at a friend's greenhouse I had a chance to buy starter Mums at bargain prices.  I believe they were 25 cents each when you bought 50 plants.  :Yahoo: Well, who could resist that, NOT me!!!   :rofl1: Of course, I didn't want 50 Mums all the same color.  :smileyNo: Well, since she was already ordering quite a few different varieties, she let me trade off 40 of mine for 10 each of four of her other colors.  :ThumbUp: So, I ended up with 50 Mums in five different colors and they were awesome!!!  However, the next year I ended up with many of them being multi-colored and some of them were colors that I never had  :SmileyQmarks: because I think she said they cross-pollinated.   :dunno:
« Last Edit: Aug 15, 2007, 12:06:38 AM by patches »
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Offline Patty S

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Re: Mums
« Reply #21 on: Aug 15, 2007, 12:45:04 AM »
Quote
Their flowers bloom mostly yellow while the parent plant is burgandy.  Can you shed any light on that?
Quote
I ended up with 50 Mums in five different colors and they were awesome!!!  However, the next year I ended up with many of them being multi-colored and some of them were colors that I never had :SmileyQmarks: because I think she said they cross-pollinated. :dunno:   

I don't know the first thing about Mums, cuz I've never had them, but... it's my understanding that pollination has absolutely nothing to do with the "mother color" that comes from tubers, bulbs, corms & rhizomes plants. I may be misinformed, but since the DNA blueprint can only be altered when they are propagated from seed (rather than from cuttings or division), I believe that it's genetically impossible to get a different color any other way.

In other words, the only way you should be getting a different color would be from plants that were started from seeds... or from the offspring tubers, bulbs, corms & rhizomes that form on those plants.   

If anyone has another explanation as to why subsequent plants would produce a different color, I'd be very interested in knowing the answer, myself.
« Last Edit: Aug 15, 2007, 12:54:12 AM by Patty S »

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #22 on: Aug 15, 2007, 01:13:49 AM »
Quote
since the DNA blueprint can only be altered when they are propagated from seed (rather than from cuttings or division), I believe that it's genetically impossible to get a different color any other way.

In other words, the only way you should be getting a different color would be from plants that were started from seeds

Patty, I think you may have answered your own question.  I can't quite remember how Pam explained it to me because sometimes she's hard to follow.  :ScratchHead:  But, from what I can remember in my Horticulture class this type of cross-breeding in nature happens the same way it does then they cross-pollinate plants in a nursery to get different colors and varieties.  From what I can remember, I think they take the stamen from the pollen parent and brush it against the anther on the stigma of seed parent to get cross-pollination. I don't know if I explained this exactly right,  :dunno: but I think you can get the idea.  ;)  If I could only find my Horticulture book I know there was an experiement in there that we could do, and I actually did try it with my Lord Baltimore and Kopper King Hibiscus, but it didn't work for me!!!   :crying:  :SmileyFit:
« Last Edit: Aug 15, 2007, 01:20:23 AM by patches »
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Offline Patty S

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Re: Mums
« Reply #23 on: Aug 15, 2007, 01:45:42 AM »
I tried that with my iris last year... but I think it was too late when I did it.  The directions for cross-pollinating iris said to do it when the blossoms first opened, but I didn't get around to it for a few days. I had marked the ones I worked with, as to what colors I was mixing, but none of those plants made seed pods for me. I totally forgot to try it this year! :SlapSelf:

I was just IMing with Peggy & mentioned this conversation to her, & she asked me if the pH of the soil could have any effect the color. :ScratchHead: (I told her to come on board & ask that question, but Clyde was turning the lights out.)

I altered the colors of a few plants after dividing a big Hydrangea, by adding varied amounts of Dolomite to the holes before I planted them... but I don't know if other plants respond to pH the same way. :dunno:

:ThumbUp: Good question, Peg!

Offline patches

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Re: Mums
« Reply #24 on: Aug 15, 2007, 01:56:29 AM »
Patty, I know the pH of the soil will change the color of Hydrangeas, but I really don't know if it works on any other plants.  :dunno:  As you can well imagine, this Hydrangea concept was very interesting to me, because it meant I could change the blue blooms on my  'Nikko' Hydrangea into one with PINK flowers!!!    :Yahoo: :Wow: :ThumbUp:
« Last Edit: Aug 15, 2007, 02:01:02 AM by patches »
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