FLORIST'S MUMS--LUSCIOUS FALL BLOOMS!

Some of my favorite blooms of fall has to be Chrysanthemums, fondly called mums.  These hardy, welcome sights in the fall come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Garden mums are more hardy, and bloom earlier than florist's mums, but if you live in an area with a long-enough season, you will love planting florist's mums--colorful, beautiful blooms that are easy to grow in your beds.  Their season has just started, with the early bloomers first.  Others won't be blooming until October, and even as late as November for others.  One of the first to bloom is this wonderful clear pink Anemone mum, PROM QUEEN.  It's giant, 6-8" across blooms, are a beautiful pink, and one that people are drawn to; it's a real popular flower in the garden.  The clear color, as well as the giant blooms, makes it a sure winner! I like using it in my flower arrangements--it has a very long vase life.  Another nice quality they have is that they can be planted or transplanted any time the ground is workable--including summer, when most perennials can't be transplanted successfully.  They grown in most any type of soil, but added humus materials such as compost, peat moss, or leaf mold is beneficial.  Don't keep too wet--They do best if let to dry out a bit before watering--even letting the leaves "droop" a little. I use super phosphate to prepare the soil before planting in the spring, when all danger of frost is past.  To increase their flower size and numbers, use a top dressing of a slow release fertilizer.  I use Osmocote at planting, plus it's recommended to feed weekly with Miracle Grow. When first growing in the spring, pinch back to 4-6", leaving some good green foliage below your cut, until July 4 for a bushier, more productive plant (larger varieties pinch back once, keeping the strongest stem, then don't pinch back further). When bud color starts to show in the early fall, I discontinue fertilizing. To get the biggest blooms, remove all buds around the main bud on the stems.  I order my mums from KING'S MUMS, out of Oregon. They have been great to work with, and have a great variety of mums of all kinds, including garden cushion mums, cascades, and several different varieties of florist's mums.