In 10 years of trying, we have yet to have a mum survive the Winter here
in Northern Illinois. My mom had mums for years with no winter die-off
but that was many years ago.

I get the feeling that someone is cheating on the old family recipe when
it comes to contemporary mums. No matter where or when we buy them or
what claims are made or where we plant them, they never survive the Winter.

Any ideas?

On a tangent, we did learn that we can buy any old mum in Fall and enjoy
it as a potted plant on the deck, keep it alive over Winter in the shop
window and then put it out in Spring and guess what? They bloom in May
and continue all Summer. Not only that but one plant will get to about
the size of a bushel basket and be nearly a solid mass of flowers.

Sadly, they still do not survive the Winter.

js

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I have mums here in NH and we have some pretty tough winters. I just cut
them back and they come up year after year. I never put mulch or leaves
over them because it can warm them up before they are ready and then they
start growing too soon.

"Jack Schmidling" wrote in message
...
In 10 years of trying, we have yet to have a mum survive the Winter here
Sadly, they still do not survive the Winter.


Just a thought, but I've lost a couple to snails. Are you sure that's not
the problem.

Jen

On Tue, 30 May 2006 17:45:18 -0600, Jack Schmidling
wrote:

I get the feeling that someone is cheating on the old family recipe when
it comes to contemporary mums. No matter where or when we buy them or
what claims are made or where we plant them, they never survive the Winter.

I too am of the opinion that the more exotic the bloom color, the less
hardy the plant. And the "Belgian" varieties, the ones that are
self-branching? I'm not sure I've *ever* had one of those survive in
central Pennsylvania.