The winters here can be pretty rough some years, and like many of you, I've found fall planted mums often don't return. However I have found a couple of ways to give them a fighting chance. First, getting them early in the fall, when I first see them available, and planting ASAP, is helpful. This gives them some time to establish roots in the native soil before cold weather. 2nd, is to dislodge the root ball upon planting, not only to encourage the roots to grow into the garden soil, but also to shake off as much potting medium as possible. I feel like the porous potting medium allows for too much cold air to circulate around the roots. I gently shake off what I can, then upon setting it in the planting hole, use the hose to further break it apart as I fill the hole with water.

Frillylily, I've often found daisy form mums to be hardier for some reason. It's a pretty one, so worth a try.

Florist mums have often been winter hardy for me, but the problem was bloom time being so late. Some were just budding when hard frost hit, others just starting. I think those that require very short days to bloom are easier to cultivate in greenhouses, covering the benches with shade cloth like Poinsettias are grown.

I've had these for years, and nearly ditched them after several years of being frozen just as buds were opening. They've performed well for the last couple of years, and are otherwise very hardy and vigorous.

My not likely hardy mums

Especially if the winter is like last year...

I love the classic yellow mounds of Fall. I have yet to get mine to survive other than like an annual

Thanks for sharing those beautiful Mums, Gemini_sage, Jennifer and company!

This chrysanthemum is the last plant to bloom in our garden every year.

Jmorth love that one.

Thanks Mike

Beautiful!

I have gotten my mom and myself some of the standard yellow mums for Fall. I have been busy and didnt get them set out. Our temps have dropped to the teens already. Mom brought hers in and cut them back. They are coming back out with some new leaves. Hopefully, I can plant mine and I might get them to return. We have been back up to 60 this wk.

I wish they were hardier and not like an annual.

Jennifer mentioned Mums of Minnesota awhile back. The Mammoth series and other hardy mums developed at the U of M are fantastic...but you need a lot of space for them. I got a little 4-inch pot of Mammoth Red and three years later had four shrub sized 3 x 3 clumps. They live through hot humid Minnesota summers and arctic winters. I don't even bother with other garden mums any more except in fall planters.

Just checked Bluestone for the Mammoth series and didn't see it. Seems I've recognize the name and have seen them offered, I'll keep an eye out for them!

Usually about this time of year I see increases at the base of the mums, while I'm cutting the frosted growth back. Newly planted mums, if that are going to come back at all, will show this too. I've been looking at some I planted in October, and I can't seen any increases starting. Today I was at the manor home (a historic mansion here in town, part of the event venue I work with), looking at the mums in all the urns, and most of them have babies! They were installed about 3 weeks before I planted mine, and are different cultivars, but I was kinda surprised. I think I'm going to bring the survivors home, they need to come out anyway, so nothing to lose

Neal, mums have a much better chance of surviving if you DON'T cut them back until Spring.

http://www.fgimn.com/ You can find the Mammoth mums here. I tried them this year. They were just meh for me. But maybe next year they will be better.

Hmmm...come to think of it, I don't think I typically do cut them back till spring. But it was totally non-intentional, I'd scolded myself for not having cut them back yet! LOL The only ones I've cut back here already have thick masses of increases, and they're tough as nails. I've been waiting till I see that on others before cutting back, but I'll just mulch around them and leave them be. Those that I'm pulling out of urns at work, do you think the tops should be left on those? I'm only rescuing those showing increases.

I think I would cut the tops off the ones you are pulling out of the urns.

Underneath the frosted tops, my Minnesota mums look great. They're definitely increasing, while the typical garden mums next to them look (and probably are) entirely dead.

Today I brought home 4 pots of mums I had used outside another part of the venue, that I left in the nursery pots (I had just sat them into decorative containers). There were 6, and these 4 all had lots of increases and look like they're going to return nicely. Several of the mums I used came from Lowes, and several came from a local grower. I realized all of these showing growth were from the local grower. It makes me wonder if it has more to do with specific variety as to returning.

In my experience the fall tells me nothing about how much or how well mums will return. For me, so much depends on the conditions of spring. I've had so many mums that had fabulous new growth at the base in the fall, that looked good after the first snow melt, but then did not survive later freeze and thaws or just simply could not tolerate a long cold wet spring. On the bright side, I've also had mums that had no new growth in the fall, looked dead in the spring, and then shot up a bunch of new shoots.

You just never know!

Hmmm...interesting. I've never lost one showing next season growth, but that does give me some hope for those that aren't.