Mums the Word

I know not everyone is on the same page about the upcoming Fall season, but this girl is more than ready! The bug has hit me: I have apple candles burning, pumpkin spice coffee brewing, and a harvest desktop theme having me darn-near giddy for the weather to cool off and fall colors to pop up! One aspect I'm especially stocked about it the fact I get to plant my own Chrysanthemums this year! We're in a whole house with a real front garden this fall, and I plan on taking full advantage of it! If you are, too, here are a couple awesome facts about our beloved mums that I came across when checking out the possibilities.

I had no clue that there are actually two types of mums: the florist mums and the hardy mums. Although it may seem like a no brainer to pick the “hearty” mums, I can see why I'D get confused about which to pick at the store! Florists utilize a lot of mums in their bouquets because they have great longevity on top of their quintessential fall-time colors. When picking mums for your yard, though, these long lasting blooms aren't the best because they have a harder time as the cold weather hits. Hardy mums put out stolons, which help them become more sturdy and sustainable, whereas Florist mums only put out few to none.

Another awesome fact I found is that you want to be careful where you plant your mums because they’re "photoperiodic." This means that they cycle and bloom in direct response to the daylight patterns associated with shortening fall/winter days. If you plant your mums under any landscape lighting or street lights the artificial lighting will actually throw your mums for a loop and mess up the whole cycle (also messing up your plans for fall time hearty blooms).

One last important point, if you do love mums too, but don’t have the room to plant them, chrysanthemums actually do really good in a pot, as well! Make sure that they’re still someplace sunny (they need at least half a day’s light for a good bloom) and that they get a good watering 3x a week if you’re having a dry season.