Robbie
I have never ordered any mums through a catalog. The ones I have were purchased at Walmart 5 years ago for 97¢ and they are still going strong. Last year i divided them.

Penny

thanks penny. that's good to know that your mums are doing well. i'm very opposed to wal-mart -- but i will check out our favorite nurseries upstate to see what they have. but the ones in this king's mums look incredible. i just suspect that the ones i like won't make it upstate. thanks, penny!

good luck. I haven't been too successful finding really colorful mums locally. It seems that they all pretty much carry the same thing. I would really like to find some really bright colored ones but I think I will have to stick with local ones because of the hardiness factor.

penny

I've never ordered from King's. I had a spoon mum for a few years, or at least one that was identical to a picture of redwing on the King's site, but it didn't start out that way. I have no idea of the source of the original mum. My sister divided one at home (definitely not spoon), and it bloomed with the spoon-type petals for me. Unfortunately, it was crowded out by a rather aggressive strand of rudbeckia two years ago. I haven't seen any of the more exotic types at our nurseries, mostly just the decorative, single, and pompom varieties. I've convinced some of the mums I've received at Easter to come for a couple years, including a spider mum once, but that's about it. I would definitely talk hardiness zones with them before ordering. Not all mums can take an upstate winter.

My favorite? For sentimental reasons, a shrub-sized monster (I cut it back this year, which didn't seem to do much to curtail its size, just delayed its bloom) of pompon variety, cream with a rum pink to pink blush center. This perfectly symmetrical space hog was one of two plants I'd bought five and a half years ago from a local nursery to create cut flower table displays for my wedding. While its partner did not survive, this thing has quietly enlarged itself and taken over every inch of spare space where a small cedaresque shrub used to live before I yanked it. Last year my husband noticed it for the first time and asked what kind of shurb it (the mum) was. :) When uncut, it's at least three feet high, and probably a little taller than that, perfectly symmetrical, and covered with small blooms.

thanks penny1947 and hammerl. i contacted king's mums. and they seem helpful. when i've narrowed down my selection, i'll ask them for more details. i expect that all the ones i like won't make it. but maybe i'll look into other options for keeping them safe for the winter -- like bringing them indoors? i'm also gonna chat with the local nurseries, to get their input. thanks so much for your advice!

My experience with mail order mums is that most of them aren't hardy here, especially those which are grown in nice warm places. I'd order from a northern nursery like Bluestone Perennials. They have lots of mums.

Even the ones I buy at the local garden center are iffy as to hardiness. I plant them all and then divide what comes back the next year.

Hi everyone, habitual lurker here. I was just at my local home depot and they had seeds for the most beautiful blue mums! They take a year to bloom tho....

I saved some seed heads from some of the mums I had this year, hoping that if I sowed them, they might grow. Do you think that will work?

I meant to say "flowerheads". I am assuming the seeds are in the flower heads some where. I put them in a paper bag. I figure if I sow the petals and all, something will come up?

lblack,
As long as the seeds were dry, that should work. If your mums make it through the winter, here is an easy way to propagate. When your plant starts coming up, take a sharp spade, cut through the new growth and replant. They root very quickly.

Good luck, Anne-Marie

Thank you, Anne-Marie...I'm not sure how brave I am to start them just now because I lost one I brought inside to whiteflies. But when I do, I'll try that splicing method...it'd be nice to get two-for-one so soon! :-)

I hate to admit but I've had great success with the $.88 mums from Lowers. I buy them in the fall, plant them, then by the next fall they have at least doubled in size. In the spring I take cuttings, place them in a glass of water; in just a few days they will have roots. I've planted them right in the ground and I've planted them in a soil-less mix and then planted them out. They usually turn out pretty good from the cuttings (it takes a year or two for them to get good sized).

About my mum. She's 81 now and..........LOL

I have noticed that there is a distinction between garden mum and hardy mum in the advertisments. Stick with the 'hardy' variety to be safe even though the selection sometimes leaves a lot to be disired.

I am interested in starting a "dig your own mum" farm in Northern Vermont. Does anyone have any information on this/or contact info for wholesale buying starts? I would appreciate any help.

I am interested in starting a "Dig your own mum" farms. does anyone have any information on wholesalers? And any other information relating to this type of business.
Thank you.