Right, the flowers are a totally different color. Last year they were orange, this year they are like a dark maroon. If you can tell me how to post pics on here, I can show you before and after pics.

and you are absolutely positive you didtn kill that brain cell.. right?? ... rotflmbo ...

ken

I am absolutely positive... lol.

Have the blooms opened? Many mum blooms look a different color before they open, as well as when they're partially opened compared to all the way open.

Deanna

I'm going to try to change the subject a bit here...I'm in northern WI here. Really northern WI, 17 miles south of the Michigan UP. I'd like to overwinter my tender 'perennial' mums. tried it outside many times--not! Mulch or no, can't be done.

Maybe if I stick them in the root cellar (around 50 degrees F), total dark and water every month or so?

Ideas, please?

Elvis, it's worth a shot. I wouldn't water every month unless they're dry, though. They could die from root rot. And I wouldn't put them down there until they've gone dormant outside.

Deanna

Well, I've got to chime in and back up the original poster - it *does* happen! I planted some maroon mums last fall which were blooming when I purchased them, and they just started blooming this week, and they are now a puke-orange color, nowhere near maroon, and never a color I would willingly pick - I think they're butt-ugly.

No clue why it happened, the only thing I can think of is the plants aren't actually the original ones I bought, they may be plants that grew from seeds set last fall. The mums next to them were (and still are) bright flamin' yellow; Yellow + red/maroon = orange. Blech...

Well I checked the mum out again this morning, and some of the flowers are maroon and some are darker orange. Maybe you're right, Deanna, that they sometimes start out a different color and then change.
This is the only mum I have ever planted so I know it's not a case of another mum growing up through it.
Thanks for your help! I thought I did something wrong with caring for the plant, but didn't know what! LOL.

Same thing happened to me! I planted two small yellow mums in pots earlier this year. After the yellow blooms died, I pinched back and now have new blooms. Both plants in separate pots are both blooming maroon. This has never happened to me before. I've planted them in the ground before and they have always come back the same color. I don't mind and actually find it kind of cool, but very odd!

When you buy a potted chrysanthemum it will have been subjected to an artificial lighting regime to make it flower to a commercial timetable. It will also have been treated with growth retardants to produce a compact plant suitable for the pot plant trade. This retardant inteferes with the plant's growth hormones and can result in a less intense flower colour. But I don't know why it would produce a completely different flower colour.

Some chrysanthemum cultivars have been produced by radiation. I don't understand this sufficiently but it seems reasonable to suppose that there may be reversion in cultivars obtained this way.

Me neither! It's out of my realm of knowledge. I wish I had taken pictures of the yellow ones so I could post before and after. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been a combo with both colors originally blooming, but the first was all solid yellow and all buds are now solid maroon. Must be a full moon!

Someone told me once that the colored strains are taken from a more dominant variety which is usually white or pink. And lo and behold, it's not uncommon for some of my colored mums to change color to white or pink - even years later!

I've had mums to change colors in previous years. Especially white ones. Seems they picked up color from other nearby mums. Mums are so easy to root or take cuttings from. You can increase your supply that way, especially if you have a favorite one that you're not likely to find the next year as they introduce new varieties each year. Mums are a fairly inexpensive flower to purchase, depending on the size and most are fast growers.

Mums have one of the highest ratios of mutations among garden plants, even without radiation. Multiple cultivars are just sports of other cultivars. It happened to me at least 3 times. Sometimes one flower on a branch has different colour, sometimes a whole shoot.

I originally had a hard time getting my mums to return after winter. My friend gave me a piece of her pale pink mum late summer and it took off. So once I got the hang of it, I planted them all around my beds....all were different colors.In the last 2 years I had several of them change colors, and I thought it was just my imagination. Well....this year all but one of my mums is this light pinky/purple which was the color of the first one I planted. I had so many beautiful colors. We had a very wet spring...don't know if that's what did it. I normally fertilize about once a month and of course pinch back til the 4th of July. Growing isn't my problem any more....Colors are. Is there any way to get them back to the original colors???? This light pink is not a color I would have ever chosen for fall. If they all had changed to a burgundy or a golden color, I would be ok with it. But Pink?????

Yes, I've had mums to change colors..Never plant a colored mum in same bed or near a white mum. I've had yellow mums turn bronze before the next year. I have had the most beautiful bronze colored mum for several years now and I transplanted the largest hunk to a large container then took cuttings of the other. I'll let you know how they come out when they bloom this Fall. I would suggest you keep all one color together to avoid color switching. Sometimes I wonder if tags don't mixed up at the garden center or at the growers.

Yes, it happened this year to me! I planted a mum 2 years ago and it was a creamy peach color with hundreds of blooms. Last year it was the same color. However, this year it's a light pinkish rust. I kept staring at the blooms wondering if I was losing it. I will post pictures later today! Very strange!

Here's a good one for you all... I planted 5 bright yellow mums last fall, gorgeous...I took pictures !
4 came back... but 3 yellow, and 1 came back pink ! I cut them back by 1/3 three times before July 1, as advised by grower. they are huge perfectly shaped globes. We had 30 days of over 90 degree days , and some drought this summer. Would that cause it ? They are all right next to each other !

I would love to be able to accommodate more mums in our garden but they take up so much real estate requiring lots of sun. I have two but even then they are in less than optimal locations.

I also have had mine change color, I lifted a huge white one that bloomed a bright pink this year, as well as the ones next to it which did the same. Such an interesting species to be able to do something like that! Frankly, I like the pink color, even for the fall!

I'm sorry but mums are not going to change color because they are planted next to another mum of a different color. It just isn't going to happen.

Unless you talking about seedlings of mixed parentage taking over the plantings and crowding out the original plant or the original plant dies and seedlings take over. I found a lot of mum seedlings this spring because I didn't deadhead last fall.

Kevin

Temps can have a huge influence on flower color - a huge influence.

I have 2 yellow mums. As some of you already pointed out, they appeared to be maroon colored when the buds are not fully opened. Once they are fully openned, they are yellow and stay yellow until aged to brown.

I had similar question ~ 4 years ago when I first had the experience. The mums were planted in spring of previous year and bloomed as yellow flowers the same year. I remember telling my husband that strange things happened to the mums as the bud were maroon. He insisted that I had them mixed up as I have two maroon ones (Yoder mum Helen) next to the two yellow ones. It is good that these flowers are indeed yellow later on. Otherwise I will have a reputation of bad memory....
Vivian

Here is the mum that starts as maroon colored buds and change into yellow flowers when the buds are fully opened. Trust me this is a yellow flowerd mum planted ~ 5 years ago.

{{gwi:273962}}

wow. If you told me that was a yellow mum I would have given you the raised eyebrow look and the half smile. It looks to me like a really nice maroon mum. Please show it when it's starting to change.

btw My memory is completely gone.... unless it's plants. Things get ugly when I return from the store with a bag of potting soil and forget the neosporin and childrens tylenol.

I bought four BRIGHT yellow mums last year and planted them. They were the only mums in my yard,

This year, they are an orangish yellow. (They actually started off darker, but are lightening up some. Maybe they will lighten to sunshine yellow again.)

They are definitely the exact same plants, as they never fully died down during our so-called winter.

We did have a hot summer, but I watered regularly and I did fertilize.

Weird!

This self sown seedling is changing from white-ish (last year) to having a couple pinkish mixed in. I don't know if there were two seedlings or if it's a sport but in any case I don't think it's a keeper :)

I actually like the pink with red center.

Mine changed from a bright yellow when I purchased them to a rust color when the new blooms came out. One plant has just one yellow flower.
It is weird how this happened. Still beautiful though.

Mine changed from a bright yellow when I purchased them to a rust color when the new blooms came out. One plant has just one yellow flower.
It is weird how this happened. Still beautiful though.

I have a pot with a white mum that has always been completely white, except this year, when some pink has appeared. The pic shows the flower way beyond its prime, but I hope you can still see the pink tinges.

I also have some very dark red mums that turns a rust color which I don't like too much but its in line with the season so I just look the other way

this pretty hasn't changed color but I just had to brag and I spotted it in the bargain bin at Lowes, looking very, very sad. After a good haircut and some regular watering, it has thanked me profusely. Not bad for $1, huh?

I realize the last comment was from 2014, but I'm hoping someone still sees mine! I'm fairly new to gardening, especially with mums. I've bought them bloomed before and have had some given to me. All were perfect and no issues. This year I bought a few that hadn't bloomed yet in hopes of them lasting longer. Well they are just now starting to bloom, no full ones yet. They are supposed to be pink but the buds look yellow! Is that normal or is there a chance all 3 I purchased were tagged different by mistake? I do know I purchased a different type of mum at the same time, it started blooming first and has tons of full blooms on it now. It's a burnt orange but I noticed it started out burgundy. I assumed it's normal, I'm not sure. Thanks for any input!

I to have my mums change color. Two years ago I planted 2 dark maroon mums this year they are light orange color. And in front of my house along the stone wall they are all light orange color, They were all different colors no more just light orange.

Last spring (2016) I bought yellow and white mums. I alternated them in my bed. This spring I separated them like I was instructed. One bunch of white mums was very full while the other was scant so I added some of the full to the other. I pinched them in the spring and now this fall the white ones that were scant now have some light purple blooms. It's so odd. FYI this picture is 2 weeks ago before they fully opened.

bought a daisy like orange blooming mum in august. trimmed off flowers when faded. kept it potted. now blooming maroon or deep red. no drought. complete change of color. Northern az.. outside mid december. my french lavender is also in full bloom.

I planted yellow last late fall. This year started with yellow buds and opened to huge globes ..with a small section or purple in back of one

Now both are fully bloomed white with purple tints. Gorgeous but I'm so confused!

bossy has the ones I had! I was just thinking, I've had some that were white, but came back with a picotee edge on them. I kept thinking, maybe the temperature affects them? But they were that way all season long? Then I moved.

Strange to hear as mine have always stayed true. Some of my white ones have always turned lavender on the edges as they age, which I believe is normal.

My mums this year are all maroon last year they were all rust color. I done know why they are doing this . Three years ago I had all different colors . I wonder what color they will be next year.

H

I too have had my Mums change color. But this year They are all different colors back to what I planted.

i've had the old Sheffield pink&, Will's wonderful for years and they have not changed color.

Could it be that these old mums' are just more stable. It seems to me if you grow a named variety that have been around for years it should be stable in all regards.

OTOH the unnamed mass produced ones are generally grown for one season to be discarded after they are through. So, in theory, they don't have to have the same consistent color or habit the next season. because, in theory, they aren't going live that long.

Maybe whatever treatment they are sujected to only lasts one bloom cycle.

When we sucessfully grow those anonymous mums another year, we're defying the growers' odds and premsise about the longevity But I think we have to take what we get!

As I said, I am wondering, not stating fact.

I planted a pink mum in autumn 2015 and in the last 2 years it has come back purple. Still a lovely color but strange. A large plant now, had to divide this spring.

I noticed this with other Mums, and now with my present Mums. I got Yellow and Orange, now they are all yellow! I thought maybe it was the heat causing them to be all yellow. If they last, I’ll check again in the Fall.

My maroon mum that I planted blooms with yellow edges now!

About color change, I purchased a bright yellow mum last year from Walmart, cut it back after flowering and moved it to miracle grow fertilized soil under the mail box early last spring. This fall, it is full of clear bright purple flowers. My neighbor has burgundy mum's 100' away. No idea why the color , just checking on line to find out if anyone else experienced this.

3 yrs ago I was gifted a potted red mum in full bloom 3 October's ago. I planted them in the garden and today 8.10.22 tthey are bursting out in bright yellow. It's hugely over grown and needs to be secured. I'm delighted.

I replanted my pale pink ones ones their blooms were gone and the plant grew to double or triple it's size and now the blooms are hot pink or marroon colour

The increase in size, and probably the colour change, can be explained by the way growers treat plants to dwarf them for sale as container plants. They use various chemical growth inhibitors and manipulate light to produce compact plants. Once outside the plants grow naturally and resume their normal size and colour.

This is very surprising...who knew so many people would be seeing this happen?

I am scratching my head, because I can't remember whether mine changed colors on the same plant from one season to the next, or if I had seedlings that just hybridized? I thought they had hybridized, but now that I think of it, I don't think these have ever reseeded. If I just divided them and moved them, that shouldn't have chaged their color. And now I don't know what happened.

I do have common orange Mums bought locally that were not known to be perennial and they have been vigorous and hardy and the color hasn't really changed much that I can tell. Always orang, maybe some shading?