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Overwintering Mums

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2006
by tkhooper on February 15, 2006 07:27 AM
Well the mums got slaughtered in the snowstorm. There is no green left on any of them. Can someone give me some hints on how to mulch them so they will overwinter successfully please.

I tried to cover them with some of the brown grass I got but between high winds and that last snow storm that didn't work. And I didn't do a really good job covering them because I was afraid that it would get matted down and kill them that way.

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by Bestofour on February 15, 2006 08:04 AM
When do you're mums bloom? Mine are a fall flower. I would cut them back and cover them with leaves. Mums are hardy. They'll be back.

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by peppereater on February 15, 2006 08:13 AM
Sorry, Sheri, but I beg to differ...I'd not cut them back. They most likely will do fine, mulched or not, but mulching might help a little. Cutting back anything now could stimulate growth.
You are right on track when you said "They'll be back!" Mums frequently try to green up early, and are frequently burned back. [flower]

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Dave
Even my growlights are getting restless!
by Bestofour on February 15, 2006 08:17 AM
Does the cutting back depend on the zone? I cut mine back any time I see green until September so they'll be blooming for Halloween. I think someone on this board told me to do this one year when mine were getting big early. I was told to keep them no more than 6 inches tall until the middle of September.

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by peppereater on February 15, 2006 08:20 AM
BTW, tk, I never mulch mums, but I leave the old foliage on until late winter...you'd be surprised how much insulation the dead portions provide. In zone 7, you never know when they'll go completely dormant, or when they'll come out of dormancy. Around here, they still had blooms in early December this year. Plus the ground temps never got cold enough to put mulch down.
Sheri...Around here many mums bloom both spring and summer...most years.

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Dave
Even my growlights are getting restless!
by peppereater on February 15, 2006 08:26 AM
Sheri...Hi! We're posting at the same time!
The advice on mums that I find in most books is "keep pruned tightly, with the last pruning around July 4th."
That's what's frustrating about gardening books...most seem to be written for the northeastern states.
I let mine bloom once in the spring, no pruning, them deadhead, and only prune to keep a formal shape. If yours bloom when you want, you're doing great! But you might try leaving one or 2 to bloom in the spring, and see if they do, and if they bloom again in the fall for you.

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Dave
Even my growlights are getting restless!
by Bestofour on February 15, 2006 08:26 AM
Dave, after the blooms die on mine I leave it all dried up too. I never put anything on mine, but most of them are under trees. I do have a few on an exposed bank and they do just as well even though I don't mulch them either. That's neat that yours bloom 2 times. Thanks for the info.

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by tkhooper on February 16, 2006 03:01 AM
Thanks for all the info. You all give me hope that I haven't seen the last of them.

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by Bestofour on February 16, 2006 09:58 AM
Dave, I'm gonna see if mine will bloom twice this year. I haven't even checked to see if they've got green on them, everything else does. If they do, I'm not pruning back until after they bloom. Then I'll leave them alone and see if they bloom again in September. Thanks for the idea.

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by peppereater on February 16, 2006 11:48 PM
Sheri...I think I'll try keeping some pruned, and letting the rest bloom in the spring. The wierd weather here really messed with the mums last year...they were covered in buds both spring and fall, but the buds opened like a few here, a few there, for weeks at a time. I used garden scissors to deadhead spent blooms. Eventually, they got nice and full, but it was aggravating! [Mad]

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Dave
Even my growlights are getting restless!
by Bestofour on February 17, 2006 09:23 AM
TK, check out the ad at the top of this page. "How to grow Mums?" Coincidence?

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by tkhooper on February 17, 2006 09:52 PM
lol I think those adds are suppose to change to something like the posts that you are looking at. Which is nice except if I want to look at one later. Sometimes I can't find it.

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by patches1414 on February 18, 2006 12:13 AM
I live in zone 5 and I've had them bloom in the spring and again in the fall, but I prefer to keep them trimed back until the first week in July. This gives me nice compact plants. I think yours will probably come back, mine usually do.

patches1414

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by njoynit on February 18, 2006 01:02 AM
I'm SE TX Z 8b And mine bloom twice a year& a few spots in my yard they stay evergreen& imagine take light frosts well cause not much leaves on them ceept about the bases.
My white has put out some new growth,but is an earlier flowering one at both times of bloom& my bronze last year I did NOT wack it back enough& it then it got about 3 ft wide.but it did not flop was about 3 ft tall blooming too.My burgandy helen will be moved,shes crowded where she's at.I moved my purple seirria also.well see how it does this year.then got my yellow sunshine.That thing will flop if not keept cut& has multiplied well& has spots in just about ALL my beds..lol

I'm the queen of buckets.I'll tell ya to kick some leaves around base of plant and stick a bucket on and remove mid morning especially if sun would hit it in the morning.
I fertilize my mums well also ones at the base of rose bush,some near brugmansias& some in the butterfly bed.

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