Planting Mums for Fall Beauty

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on WHAV.

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on WHAV.

Add some fresh color to your landscape with mums and asters.

Set them in a decorative pot and place them on your front steps to welcome visitors.  Or use them on your patio, deck or balcony for a bit of color to enjoy all fall.  Combine with other fall favorites like ornamental grasses, cabbage, kale, mustard and pansies for greater impact.

Or use them to replace fading annuals or fill voids in the garden.  Leave the mum in its pot and sink it into the ground when using these plants as annuals in the fall garden.   You’ll need to water less and it will be easier to remove and replace with new plantings.

And if you’re trying to grow them as perennials and tired of replacing fall planted mums and asters every year, try starting in spring.  Purchase and plant them in spring and keep pinching them back to 6 inches throughout early summer. You’ll have more compact plants covered with lots of blooms.

A bit more information:  Allow healthy mums and asters to stand throughout the winter.  They provide habitat and food for birds and butterflies and a bit of winter interest to the landscape.  Cut the plants back and compost the old stems in spring before new growth begins.

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