Better than mums
How to use mums? How many of us get that question? Sure, I see lots of discussions on how to keep mums alive, when to plant them, and which are perennial/which not.
But I was asked: How to use mums in an interesting way? The reason: I have a new job now, still in media, but as an editorial writer at our local paper. I don’t get to write about gardening, though I do opine on climate change and other environmental concerns (like climate change).
Also better than mums
However, the style editor knows all about my gardening obsessions and often comes back to my lair to discuss things she’s working on – which can be a nice respite.
This time, she wanted to know really unusual, even wacky ways to use mums in indoor or outdoor fall decor situations.
More stuff that’s better
I gave it some thought. Of course, I dislike, even hate mums (depending on which type they are), as I have said here and in many other Rants that have disappeared from the site. Guest Ranter James Roush really hates them.
BUT, I will use them in fall arrangements. I like to yank them out of their pots and place them here and there with other fall stuff. Am I going to buy any of the repulsive, incredibly short-lived containers that abound at every supermarket and big box and put one on each side of my front door? Most assuredly not.
You get the idea
Anyway, I suggested to my colleague that handfuls of mums could be coming out of the carved areas of a pumpkin and the top. (Just spitballing for unusual.) I also said I only use them if cut short (tall ones look awful in a vase) and placed in glass bowls, preferably with other flowers. Only as an element, not as the big thing.
As for planting any, no way. Don’t need ‘em. I still have eupatorium (boneset), annual sage, coleus, and goldenrod blooming, just to name a few things in my still colorful garden. Not to even mention the foliage colors.
Mums, if they’re lucky, will play a small supporting role as temporary decor.
But maybe people here have wild and crazy ways to use mums. Do tell!
(Plants from top: Solidago, Japanese maple, Amsonia and Japanese maple, Eupatorium)
I similarly avoid most of those dwarf scale potted mums that will die in a few weeks. But I grow and treasure some of the tenacious very-late-season varieties that keep going well after early frosts, and (most of them) bring pale pinks into the palette Ms Licata describes. Emperor of China flops a lot unless sedulously pinched and, ideally, staked. But it will bloom beautifully without any such care. And the daisy-flowered palest pink Sheffield Pink is a genuine no-care perennial; it self-branches, tops out around 18-24 inches, and never flops. It starts flowering close to frost, and is among the very last things blooming in my garden. And there’s a more vivid pink-mauve with semi-quilled petals whose name I wish I knew, not quite as late as this others but similarly minimal care.
‘Sheffield Pink’ (used to be Dendranthema genus, but I think it’s changed) is a fabulous addition to the fall garden. Mine are late this year (Zone 6b), as are the Aconitum, but I’ll just be that much happier to see them.
I have ‘Sheffield Pink’ and ‘Emperor of China’ too! How funny. You’re right about ‘Emperor of China’ flopping–and mine is right where it flops into the sidewalk by the front door. But I love it anyway. ‘Sheffield Pink’ looks good 100% of the time, whether it’s just growing or actually blooming.
I’ve tried planting mums. After all, they are called “hardy mums”. But they are not. They peter out after a year or two. Sometimes I will purchase some for spots of color – love your idea of putting the pot inside a pumpkin! – but otherwise I prefer asters and goldenrod.
Someone gave me a bright yellow small flowered mum. About 12″ tall pinch it so it blooms latter. Spreads in a ladylike way. I usually succumb to a cushion mum or two.
I see Asters blooming in roadside ditches: beautiful small purple flowers, and bees love them! They are Natives too!
I love purple aster and managed to successfully winter sow some. Planted and promptly forgot about the seedlings until about two weeks ago when they started blooming their heads off and luring in the bees.
I stopped succumbing to the intense pressure to buy mums years ago. God, I find them so mind-numbingly boring. Having said that, I adore the daisy-shaped mums like Sheffield Pink (which to me is peach colored, not pink. Also, it is now classified as Dendranthema, but you get my drift.) I also like the football mums. Bluestone Perennial has a salmony colored one called Homecoming I’ve had my eye on, if I can find room for it.
You’re right that Sheffield Pink can have a peach cast; it seems very weather-sensitive.
I’ve grown Homecoming, and it’s a pretty tough plant and you’ll get a big subtly colored bloom.
I failed to lift and divide, and it petered out after a few years. Never need to do that with Sheffield Pink or Emperor of China.
Sheffield Pink and Clara Curtis are great perennials in a mixed border.
I,like you have an aversion to mums. They strike me as tacky in a vase on their own and at odds with anything I put with them – the whole effort becomes an exercise in ‘ making the mums look better ‘ as your article clearly illustrates,we can live without them… Except for the smell of the whole plant,pure essence of Autumn.
I’ve never heard of mums. What’s that in UK language?
I’m a hater of mums – they are generally displayed with scarecrows and hay bales to get tourists to visit local orchards and pumpkin farms around here. At my garden I have a long line of dahlias, some sunflowers, and an assortment of violas, sedums and asters that are happily blooming away.
Am I the only one frustrated to the point of tears that the author refuses to name the alternatives shown in the photos?
I’ve never been particularly fond of mums. But a year ago I bought a few marked down to .50 cents ea. I was temporarily filling a flower bed near mailbox & utilities. These were garden mums. They didn’t die & are 6×s larger than when I purchased them!! What I liked is they stayed green all summer,while developing buds & a nice round form. They made a great backdrop for my petunias. Now it is fall & they are a lovely golden yellow & lavender. I have miniture daisy looking zinnias in yellows,pinks,lavender & peach. Added some snaps in orange,mauve color.
I live in the south & we consistently have 100°weather. These are in full sun with a sandy clay soil i amended with cow manure compost mix & mulch. SO,rethink how you use those mums! They can work great in places you normally couldn’t plant a shrub for a back drop. And cheap to replace!