It wasn't too long ago that chrysanthemums were mainly yellow in coloration and known as the "golden flower of the Orient." Now you can have them in just about any color except blue.
The transition has accelerated over the past 10 years, says Edward Higgins, product manager for Yoder Brothers of Barberton, Ohio, the world's largest producer of garden mums."The colors of the No. 1-, No. 2- and No. 3-selling mums last year were red, lavender and yellow," says Higgins. "No telling what we will have this year."
Early in this decade, yellow still was the top choice.
Since Yoder, like other producers, is in the business of developing plants that consumers will want to buy, it tries to stay abreast of color trends in its plant-breeding program.
Yoder's introduction this year include variations of yellow, red, bronze, pink, orange, purple and mahogany.
Later-blooming varieties are another major change in mums in recent years. Yoder calls them "season extenders." The normal flowering time for garden mums runs from early to late September while "season-extenders" flower into late October, says Higgins.
He lists them as autumn Denise, a red-bronze decorative type; Dewiness, pastel-bronze decorative; Julia, yellow daisy; Kimberly, pink daisy; Sarah, bronze-quilled decorative; sunny Denise, yellow decorative; Valerie, purple decorative, and yellow Sarah, yellow-quilled decorative.
As for flower form, decoratives and daisy types lead the sales chart, followed by spiders, anemones, buttons and pompons. A rounded and mounded habit is the most desired plant shape.
Higgins favors spring planting in a sunny location to better establish roots before winter but says already flowering plants may be placed in any location or container where a splash of color is desired. Plant in fertile, well-drained soil. Rainfall in many areas is sufficient, but keep plants from wilting.
During the growing season, work a general fertilizer such as 5-10-5 into the soil at the rate of 0.5 to 1 pound per 100 square feet. Repeat monthly until August. Spring planted mums will need pinching but this should be stopped around July 10 in northern states and Aug. 1 in southern areas.
Space plants 15 to 20 inches from the center of one plant to the center of the next.
Some other recommendations:
Keep soil moist as winter approaches. Don't prune back plants until the following spring except in warmer climates, where they are likely to continue growing.
In cooler climates, wait to mulch plants until the ground begins to freeze. Remove the mulch in the spring. Always thoroughly water a freshly planted mum. Select plants with dark green leaf color, absence of flower and leaf damage, and strong stems.
"It is important to choose the best varieties for your region," according to Higgins. "Mums do best at temperatures ranging from 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 55 to 65 degrees at night. Excessively high day and night temperatures can cause loss of a variety's characteristic color."
For those who live in hot climates, he recommends Sarah and yellow Sarah in the season-extender group.
Garden mums are classified as perennials, plants that die back to the roots in the fall and grow back in the spring. For generations they were known as short-day plants, because they flowered in the fall when there was less than 12 hours of daylight per day.
Scientists in this century learned how to trick them into flowering by artificially reducing daylight to simulate fall.
- James E. Walters
for AP Special Features