Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Yarden chores - Late fall, early winter- begins 11-16-12, 0 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Paul--
Here's a little "how-to-know" if your Mums will come back next year.

When they are done blooming, take a look at the base of the Mum--where it comes out of the soil--
IF you see little new Mum-growths around the crown of the Mum--it will, probably
come back. If not--it is a goner.

Did you keep your Mums in pots--or did you plant them in the ground?
A killer error many people make, in planting Mums, is to dig a hole--pull out the Mum,
stick it in the hole and that's that. I am sure everyone knows how matted roots can become on a potted Mum.
You MUST cut into the root-ball with a knife, vertically, in about 5 places to give the plant a chance to
send out new roots (if you are planting it in a bed).
If not--it will be sitting in that hole you dug just like it would be in a pot. No incentive for the roots to spread out.

For the Mums you want to keep--cut them back to about 4"-5" (Not all the way down),
and throw them under a shrub, against your shed, under your deck--whatever....somewhere a bit protected--
and let Nature take care of them.
The reason you want to leave some of the stems sticking up is that they will catch some windblown leaves
which will act as a protective cover on the new growths. In spring--you can cut them all the way back.
Easy-peazy!

BTW---even if they are all called "hardy" mums--most of them DO NOT come back.
If you buy the little ones (4" pots) early in the fall and plant them, they will have time to grow roots and "make it".

Some will astound you, though. Like this one I have.
Bought it in the fall (2010 in a reg. 8" pot)--saw promising new growths at the base when it was done blooming--
cut it back some--left the pot outside in a protected area.
Planted it in a bed the next year--(2011--it grew and bloomed)--moved it to a small bed the following spring (2012)--
and this is what it did. (See pics).

It is WAYYYY too big for this tiny bed--just 5'x2'. I just planted a new Clematis in it this spring and thought the
Mum would shade the roots nicely. Now I worry that it may kill everything else in this bed by taking it over.
On the left side of this small bed there is an old, white Peony. On the right side--an old, large white Azalea.

Of the 3 Mums I bought this year--only one of them shows any promise of coming back next year.
I think certain colors have more longevity than others....

Gita