3 cliches .....

some say you arent a real gardener .. until you have 100 pots to plant in fall ...

next cliche ... just because you buy it .. does not mean it the proper planting time ...

and the final cliche is.. a bargain is a bargain.. so buy it... and then refer to the above 2 cliches ...

ken

I assume you mean you don't want them to bloom too soon. You can't control what the nursery sells, but if they have what you want you can always buy them and keep them in a more shaded spot and plant whenever you want. Or gamble and hope you can find what you want in a few weeks. A more local nursery may have plants grown in the area, while Lowe's tends to act on a more broad scale and sells plants that may be grown states away.

Never really planted fall mums in soil. I've usually more a late sept=early october Potted Mums in full bloom with Halloween decorations, gourds and all type of placement . Once halloween is over, I unpot them and mix them with the flowering Kale I have. My local nursey usually has these around mid September or so.

I was just @ Lowes picking up some screws and spied the fresh rackload of mums in all colors and it seemed like easy buy, cross one off the list, and plant sort of idea. My mind was saying more like mid-late september but what's just 2 weeks ago anyhow. buds are all nice tight .

Off topic, re: mums, one day I will need to cross this off my -new-list and dedicate some space to grow those florist type mums. I know they are - delicate- re: rain and stuff, so it would need to be a spot near the portico where I can do some protective netting and such.