Ours have become so large, so early. Do I let them bloom, cut back and expect the usual fall re-bloom? Or do I just whack them down and let the fall bloom come more naturally. We have had a very wet, dark spring in 6a.
Chrysanthemum
I always cut back mums on the 15th of May, June, and July and then let them grow. I only cut them back by about 1/3 to 1/2 each time. They will get more bushy and be way less leggy.
i was told to let them finish blooming then cut them back and they should bloom again in the fall.
The dense mound of blooms that many of us expect from fall mums is acquired by pinching thru spring and early summer. If you don't pinch you'll get the 2 periods of bloom as Farmgirl says, but neither will be as profound as the single delayed bloom you get with pinching. More pinching = more branching = more flowers. I've done both, but I prefer to pinch. It's a personal preference issue.
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Thank you all - pincers out now!
i am going to pinch mine too.
RubyStar-does the pinch rule apply the the Korean-style mum I planted last year? Unlike my other garden mums, it survived our bitter winter unscathed. It is now a large 8" mound with many branches.
do you know if you take some of those pieces that you cut off your mums now...and stick in the ground they will grow...I usually put mine in pots and pinch the top out so they branch and you will have a small plant for fall and with a little luck they will come back for the next year......
bluepoppy - I should have known that but didn't! Think you just saved me some $$ since I love need several more of this variety to help fill our 3 acres. Why thank you!!
I lost all my mums when we moved the trailer house last fall. If anyone is pinching and pitching, I'd love to pay postage for those you are throwing away. I'd like to get my mums back via pinched pieces from DG friends. :)
Kneff, I'm not familiar with Korean mums -- is that Chrysanthemum koreana? Are they the same otherwise as the regular fall mums or cushion mums, as in foliage type? If yes, then I'd say yes, pinch. Wish I could be more help, but I couldn't even find much info on the web and I'm really not familiar with all mums, just your avg fall type.
re Overwintering....if it helps any, mums have a better chance for survival if planted in early spring. Need to get that rootball going. Mounding in late fall, as you'd do for a rose, is a measure of protection that helps as well. But sometimes I think that mum survival is mostly luck of the draw, lol.
Joan, send me an email with your addy & I'll send you some cuttings the next time I pinch.
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Yes I have a favorite purple spoon mum that I like to keep several plants around so I start new ones each year..Last year lost several of them due to the winter sooo will be starting more this year...I sometimes put the cuttings in rooting compound but they seem to start well without that.....Glad I helped you all out...So simple to have your own nursery supply.....hee hee.... When I see one out in the fall I like sometimes I will get a cutting the next spring and start my own plant....
Joan - how bout I pop some pinches in with your Astilbes?
RubyStar-the tag says Dendranthemum x rubellum. I started digging for information, too, and found that Taylor's perennial book says that C. zawadskii was hybridized with C. x morifolium to produce Korean Chrysanthemums. The wholesale nursery I deal with referred to this plant as a "Korean mum" although there's nothing on its tag that says so. In our bitter winter it was certainly a lot tougher than its garden-mates. The foliage is the same as the others, but the mound seems wider and fuller for this time of year, and it appears to be spreading out from the base. The flowers, which are pale pink and single, are held about 6" above the foliage. I think you're right, I should pinch.
RubyStar and Dea, I'm sending you both an email. Thank you so much!