How To Choose The Healthiest Mums At The Store

If it's fall, it must be time for dazzling home and garden displays of purple, red, orange, yellow, and white. Thousands of chrysanthemum cultivars exist and many are available for sale this time of year. Before you head out to your favorite garden center, take a moment to consider how you can select healthy mums that will provide abundant colorful flowers well into the fall. 

First, be sure also that you're looking for garden mums, rather than florist mums, which are unlikely to last in your garden. Florist mums are specifically bred and forced to bloom, but they're less likely to survive beyond the season even when properly planted and cared for. Garden mums are less impressive on a store shelf, but easily transplanted for repeat blooming year after year.

Mid-September is the best time of year to buy mums for lasting fall color all season, but keep your eyes on the garden center as soon as fall mums go on sale so you can choose from the widest selection of mums. The key to long-lasting mum flowers is to buy plants that mostly consist of tightly closed, green buds that will open and bloom for several weeks of fall splendor. It's a simple formula; more buds equal more flowers. A plant with sparse buds may not be healthy.

You'll also want to visually check out the health of any mum you're considering. Pass up any plant with foliage that appears diseased or yellow leaves. Avoid gangly or broken stems. Examine the plant carefully for any pests, such as aphids. And make sure the mum's soil is not dried out. The plant should have an overall robust, hardy, and healthy appearance. Don't be afraid to ask garden-center staff for assistance choosing a healthy plant.

Once you've picked a healthy specimen, be sure you know how to keep mums alive once you place or plant them in your garden. Many gardeners throw mums away (or compost them) at the end of the season, but you can plant your potted chrysanthemums so they come back every year. You can even skip the trip to the garden center in subsequent years if you know how to propagate mums for a breathtaking fall garden on a budget.