They look fantastic!

I really like that last spooned mum

That last spoon mum is from Faribault Growers/Mums of Minnesota. It is the Mammoth Yellow Spoon. The clump is supposed to get huge. Unfortunately I crowded mine and it was not able to get very large. I'll give it more space next year.

You may have done discussed this but I am new to this thread. Mine are past their prime so what do I do special to keep these coming back next year. I have lost one bunch last year :(.

Teresa, are your mums established or did you just buy them in the fall?

The first thing is to buy mums in the spring from vendors that specialize in hardy mums. Even though the mums you buy in the fall are called "hardy mums" most no longer are. They are breeding the hardiness out of them. They want you to have to buy them every year. Occasionally you'll still get a few that over winter.

The second factor is to make sure when you plant them in the spring that they have excellent drainage.

And finally, for me the really hard part. Do not cut them back before winter. Yes they look ugly during winter. But they will reward you the next year. Cut them back in spring

I buy my mums from Bluestone Perennials and Faribault Growers/mums of Minnesota.

Ok, that may be why mine are not making it. I just love those big yellow mounds!! Mom has had a couple to live. I have heavy clay and I guess I need to amend it first. I shouldn't plant them now?

In my experience fall planting has very little long term success.

What if you mulch them heavily? Does that matter? Other wise is over wintering mums in the house the best thing for the first fall? and then set them out in the spring?

I would not over winter them in the house. I'm by no means an expert but I would think mums need a dormant period, perhaps even the cold of winter. But that is just my gut telling me that, not any scientific information.

I do not mulch anything. I'm a no fuss, no muss gardener. If it can't survive on its own with the exception of maybe some watering in overly dry times it just doesn't stay in my gardens.

mums!
Yes! I love them--just discovered this thread--
I used to hate on them...like they were some kind of banal, inferior plant...but my opinion has changed over the years and I really appreciate the heck out of them every fall because they bloom later and longer (at least the daisy types) for me than the asters.
I'll put some pictures in later--
Regarding overwintering and when to plant: I second what Jennifer says about good drainage! In my experience, good drainage is the key and fall planting has never been a problem for me. In fact, all my mums were originally planted in the fall, and dug up and relocated (after blooming) also in the fall, and I'm a good bit colder here than y'all.
It's not so much the cold--they just don't do well being wet and cold/frozen.
I find that they have a pretty shallow root system once established in the garden--as compared to in a pot--and I think that plunging potted mums into poorly draining soil, watering them in well, and then mulching heavy for the winter is what kills them. Granted, there are many different types of mums, and most of the mass produced decorative mums for fall sales are not 'hardy' types--but I have even successfully and unintentionally overwintered them in containers left for dead and dry on the porch, so go figure...

I'll second that, DD.
I'll have to get a picture of one my mom tossed over the fence at the end of last fall. Some branches were tossed over it, and its bottom is touching the ground, but that's it...and not only is it still alive, but it has a bloom!

My hugel mum bed is just about there...one plant is being stubborn, but it has buds so it's just down to the race against the freeze now.



And here's the planter mums...the carryovers I neglected to pinch, and the ones the nursery pinched for me.





My care regime this year is going to include resetting my mums once they're done blooming, so that they're halfway out of the soil. The newer ones that overwintered the best for me last year had the top third of their rootballs exposed. The ones that sulked this spring were the ones that were buried to the top.

Beautiful displays everyone.

One of my last to bloom
Red Carousel

Dolliette, similar to Matchsticks, but smaller blooms

Love that Red Carousel, Jennifer.

Dolliette is just beginning to bloom here.

Love the Red Carousel too! I will have to look now and see if I got that one.

I have seen one called Candlestick or Matchstick is it a hardy one? It is quite a bit higher in price. $16 for a medium sized pot.

Teresa, it is called Matchsticks. That is one that over winters sometimes for me.

In the spring you can buy rooted cuttings from Mums of Minnesota for about $2.75 each. Yes they are small. But they grow into full size plants the same year. They do stock Matchsticks.