Unlike other garden mums, these are hardy and will return year after year!  Their domed habit creates a mound of 2 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide. These tidy deer resistant and butterfly attracting perennials will bloom in June and then again in September. The flowers last well into frost.  Mass them in mixed borders with ornamental grasses, asters and stonecrops. In containers they look handsome when accessorized with a variety of gourds and small pumpkins.

To encourage branching and development of compact bushy plants, it is very important to pinch back your garden mums in the spring as soon as the new growth is 4-6″ tall.  Use your thumb nail and index finger to remove or “pinch” about 1/2 of the new growth at the top of each and every shoot.  Repeat this procedure through the summer whenever new shoots are 3-5 inches long.  In northern states, stop pinching around July 10th.  

To pinch mums, you can use your hands, pruning shears or pruners.

Keep your garden mums’ soil moist as winter approaches.  There is no need to prune back plants until the following spring.  In fact, Yoder Brothers of Barberton, Ohio have proven, by experiment, that mums cut back in early spring, instead of fall, survive hard winters better.

Mulch the plants after several hard frosts with straw or evergreen branches, etc.  In spring, remove any old stems (a rake works fine) and gradually remove the mulch.

Mums can withstand very cool temperatures and even light frosts. The first hard frost usually marks the end of the season for hardy mums. Once the plants are dormant, the tops should be removed, clean up old leaves and debris and re-mulch the area. New shoots will appear early the following spring.

It is a good practice to divide mums at least every 2 years.

Mums can be propagated by dividing off the new offset that form around the old crown. Remove these carefully with as much of their root system intact as possible. Transplant these into the area you want them to grow in or into pots for later placement. An alternative method of propagating your old plants is to make your own rooted cuttings. Each cutting should be 3-4″ in length. Remove all leaves from the bottom inch and stick the cutting into a rooting medium such as sand, perlite or vermiculite. Keep cuttings moist and out of the direct sun. Frequent misting during the first 3 or 4 days will help prevent wilting. The cuttings should be well rooted in 10-14 days. They can be planted directly in the ground or into pots for later planting.

Chrysanthemums planted or propagated in the spring require repeated pinching to create nice, low, bushy plants for fall. Pinch back all new tip growth every 2-3 weeks starting when the plants are 6″ tall and continue until July 1-15.