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How to keep mums looking good and blooming

Tips for growing chrysanthemums in Sacramento area

Gold chrysanthemum
These stunning gold chrysanthemums were grown
from cuttings from the Sacramento Chrysanthemum
Society. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)




Chrysanthemums seem to be everywhere this month. No surprise; mums are the birth flower for November.

Mums make an excellent cut flower and last in the vase for many days. And mums come in many forms and colors, so there’s a mum for almost every taste.

Mums also make beautiful gift plants. Potted mums are widely available now as these flowers are at their height of bloom. After the flowers fade, the plant can be added to the garden or kept in the pot to bloom again.

But how do you keep mums looking good and coming back year after year?

Here are tips from the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society:

* Mums need good drainage. That’s why they grow best in pots or raised beds. In the ground, they’ll tolerate almost any kind of soil, but amend clay soils with peat moss, compost or other organic material to improve drainage.

* Mums need consistent irrigation; not too wet or too dry. Keep soil consistently moist so plants don’t dry out completely. In pots, expect to water mums three times a week (or more during hot weather); twice a week when planted in the ground. Avoid wetting foliage; it can mildew.

* Mums don’t like competition. Plant them in an area with no shrubs, trees or other perennials that may fight the mums for root space, water or nutrients.

* Mums prefer full sun (at least five hours a day), but not too much sun. An east-facing spot is best with filtered or light shade in the afternoon.

* Mums are heavy feeders and appreciate monthly fertilization while growing. Use a balanced fertilizer with equal amounts of the big three macro-nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The mum society recommends bone meal, leaf mold, compost, dried blood meal, alfalfa and aged manures, using different fertilizers over the course of the year.

* Mums grow quickly from cuttings. These mums (pictured here) all grew from cuttings rooted this spring. So, one mum plant can produce many more.

* As mums grow in spring, pinch back new growth to train the plant to produce strong and healthy stems. By pinching off lateral growth and side buds, the plant will concentrate on bigger (but fewer) flowers.

Spider mum
Desert Magic spider mums are show-stoppers.

* Mums tend to be lanky (especially large-flowered varieties). Stake stems to help support those big flower heads.

* Mums not blooming? It may be too much light. The amount of light that mums get each day triggers their bloom cycle. As days get shorter, mums push out their buds. Too much light such as from porch lights or other artificial sources disrupts that cycle.

“Avoid streetlights, porch lights and car lights shining on your mums,” advises the mum society. “Unwanted light will cause your buds to set late or not bloom at all. Light prevents the bud formation.”

* When the flowers have faded, trim mum stems down to 4 to 6 inches tall. Water the plant once a week or as needed over the winter. In spring, it will start growing again and begin a whole new cycle.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 16

Take advantage of this nice weather. There’s plenty to do as your garden starts to switch into high gear for spring growth.

* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before their buds open. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees.

* Check soil moisture before resuming irrigation. Most likely, your soil is still pretty damp.

* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.

* Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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