It's unusual to see either hardy mums for sale or the big pots of non-hardy "show" mums before August.

I've planted hardy mums in the fall with no problems, planting in August through September should be fine.

I took a road trip Saturday to many of my favorite greenhouses and guess what I saw mums at WalMart and Home Depot - I kind of thought it was a bit early - but, who knows maybe they can make it through the hot months and into fall.

Last year I was flabbergasted to see mums for sale at my local grocery store in June! Seem to be getting earlier and earlier every year, just like Christmas decorations for sale. :)

Personally, I would either start my own hardy mums from seed (which I do) or buy from a reputable nursery (which I also do). I have found that over the years that the mums you buy other places don't come back the following year like they used to. I haven't been able to get a mum, which I bought at a garden center (not nursery) or a grocery store, or a big box store, etc., to overwinter for me for three years running now. I do, however, have some mums which I bought from a garden center 10 years ago which are still coming back for me. So something seems to be different.

I have bought some from Bluestone, which are shipped in the spring, and they have come back nicely for me. I also started some from seed last year and this year, and last year's have returned and are doing well.

In the meantime, I suppose the best you can do is just wait another month or so until the nurseries have them in stock. Something tells me though it won't be that long of a wait, lol.

:)
Dee

I have better luck planting mums in the spring. A small mum planted in the spring seems to take off and do far better than a larger potted mum planted late. As hardiness goes, they win hands down.
Bluestone has several nice ones, and their plants always do well for me. I can't say for sure if I've ever ordered mums from them, but all their other perennials have been great. Kings Mums have a lot of different ones that they ship as rooted cuttings in the spring. It's too late to order them now, but you might like to browse and see what they have. Once you find hardy mums that will come back for you, I've found I need to divide them every other year or so to keep them vigorous.
Have fun, I could spend a fortune on mums :)
Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Kings Mums

If the box stores have mums now (and that dosen't surprise me) and if they are in bloom, then they've been forced under black cloth most likely. Spring planted mums tend to establish themselves and survive better than those planted in fall, in or about to bloom. But, if these mums you described out in sales lots ARE NOT SPRING MUMS. They're just season rushed mums and I doubt their life expectancy would be any better than those you'd buy in a box store in fall, perhaps less because of the forcing. If they're still green and obviously not blooming or mature, then that's a different story.

I sold spring mums this year, simply because it is the best time to plant them. You can't hardly give them away, because the consumer is so programmed into buying a mature plant now in full bloom.

I also have mums beds still producing I know for a fact are at least fifty years old. Plant breeding 'improvements' often focus on things like ease of growing, ease of shipping, no need to pinch and therefore cheap to produce. That's the biggy, old fashioned mums need pinched. Many of the varieties offered now are pinch free and saves growers great amounts of money. Ca-ching. But, I haven't read much literature lately from the breeders about improvements in hardiness.

I'd echo the folks who recommend buying small starts from Bluestone in the spring. I've bought several varieties over a couple of years, and they establish well, and come back year after year.

(I don't cut the dead tops back till spring, and they seem a little slow to start in the spring, but then they just seem to jump out of the ground).

Too late for Bluestone for this year, but something to think about for the future.
Beth

I have one (out of five) nursery Mum that survived last winter.

Transplanted it to new raised mailbox bed.

It's huge and already starting to bloom. It's loaded with beautiful burgundy buds right now.

In past few weeks I've found 2 volunteers at different locations. Mulched around them and keeping them watered.

When is best time to transplant little 8-10" seedlings? They seeded on top of mulch and there could be plastic under there so afraid they'll hit barrier and die.

Weighing choice between moving them with little roots in summer heat or hoping they don't hit plastic, protecting them over winter and transplanting in spring. Advice?

I know I could buy more but I don't have the heart to waste a single plant especially if it has the moxie to plant itself. :)

How far should my one big, healthy plant be cut back in spring?

Thanks for experienced advice. :)

I'm on my 3rd year with seasonal mums bought and planted out in the fall in one bed. Since I've spring-planted and fall-planted in several locations, here is what I observe that works:

1. Drainage - if you don't have great drainage, then dig up your soil but don't make a hole - set the plant on top, or up about 2 inches and mound around it. Mulch the heck out of it for growing moisture - newspaper with bark mulch on top works well. Any bed I planted mums in that didn't have superior drainage - forget it - they won't even grow.

2. Never cut the plants back in the fall/winter. Let the dead plant stand and let any leaves fall on them and stay in place till all danger of frost is past. I've lost many mums by uncovering them too soon - those tender shoots are not frost resistant and you'll kill the whole plant by uncovering too soon. Also I think the standing dead plant must protect the crown from too much water.

3. Pinch at will during the growing season - about now is the end of the time you should pinch - or maybe mid-July.

The only problem I'm having with my mums is I've gotten some 4-Lined Beetle in that bed that comes back each yr and it sucks juice out of the leaves and makes them look awful. By now its finished the adult phase and stopped, so I can cut back the bad looking leaves and then let it grow out till fall.

I've also kept mums in containers for a couple of years and stored them in the garage. If you water lightly a few times during the winter they will resprout in spring and when frost is passed you can bring them back out.

Get some from a local gardener. They root easily from cuttings and then you will have A HARDY GARDEN MUM not those annual mums they sell in the fall.

They root so easily they grow from the cuttings I leave behind ( I use scissors to "pinch them back")

Last year mine got 4 ft across
You can see pics in my albums-
Karen

Discregard my last post.

I was thinking of my asters.
Well my advice is the same for mums-- get it from a gardener- mine have been in 5 years and made lots of pass along plants. And mine was a... pass along plant....

I don't bother to shear them back tho- and I leave the foliage until spring.

Karen

Alyrics, those 4 lined beetles have show up here as well but so far they're sticking to taking up residence on annual Nicotiana & Aegeratum flowers.

I never thought I'd be grabbing them bare handed when I see them now that I know they're around! Yuck. But I do it, fling them to the ground and squish. If only leafhoppers were so easy to catch...LOL.

Now that the Mum is blooming could have a problem with that also. It's so full I'd have to pry apart all the stems to see if the beetles are in the plant.

I think bad drainage in unamended clay soil got them last year in unamended mailbox area. That's why I dug up, amended and made raised mailbox bed where it is in different position. Last fall they were just plopped in holes dug for them. But one survived and it's up so high I have to keep mulch piled around it or water goes right down into street. Didn't know it should be covered for winter but that's added plus since deer will eat whatever they haven't eaten while it's still in bloom.

Cheer...didn't know they rooted so easily. Gotta try that.

Thanks to all.

I usually buy a couple of those big beautiful pots of mums for my porch each fall. I move the pots out to the garden after the bloom time is over. In late spring I check the pots. When I see the tiny plants emerging, I plant
them in a garden bed.

-Sharon

you want to be sure they are perennial types if you want them to surrive. also, if you plant in the spring, mothers day, they will have plenty of time to root. be sure of the full grown size of the plant, to allow it room to grow. a link for an unusual, large mum plant is, Craigslist, mum plants.