Moxie Gardener

Bushel basket mums pop up in the landscape and at the garden center every fall.  Soon after they take up residence in containers everywhere.

Commonly known as “cushion” mums, these potted explosions of bloom should be treated as annuals for seasonal color in the garden.  This variety of mums has been bred to bloom like crazy on short stems that work well displayed in the pots they grew in or massed in large containers.

Because they bloom late in the season, it is not recommended that you transplant fall-purchased, potted mums into the garden.  It is iffy that they’ll acclimate enough to survive winter.

Mums have been cultivated for two thousand years and are thought to originate in China with a common ancestor that was a golden yellow daisy-like flower.

Plant breeders have been busy and today mums are available in the full range of colors, except blue.  Their flowers can take one of nearly a dozen forms, including:  pastel daisy, fluffy quilled zinnias, dahlias, or “football” mums with large incurving petals.

The blooms on cushion mums last for weeks and as a cut flower they will last ten days to two weeks.

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Mums for sale at grocery store

It’s still officially summer by the calendar.  Here in Minnesota autumn is in the air.  Some leaves have already begun to change.  The nights are cool.  Tomatoes, peppers and other hot weather vegetables have begun to slow down their production.  Although it’s not yet time to put the garden to bed for the winter, there are things we can do now to make things go easier later on.

In early September we should fertilize our lawns for the last time.  Two weeks later, reseed if necessary.  Continue to water once or twice a week if needed.

Autumn is great for planting trees and shrubs.  Plant at least three weeks prior to the average first frost in your area.  The roots will continue to develop until the ground freezes solid, usually a month or more after the first fall frost.

Keep up with weeding, even if the bed is all “picked out.”  If the weeds go to seed, the seeds produced this fall will survive the winter and plague you and your garden in the spring.

Pull vegetable plants no longer producing and flowers that have considerably slowed down their production.  Collect seeds from flowers and vegetables or leave some spent blooms on several plants to make seeds before frost.

It’s time to bring in your tender tropical plants that have summered outside.  Before bringing in the house, place plant in plastic bag, spray lightly into the bag with insect killer, and securely close bag.  Leave outside for twenty-four hours, then remove plant from bag.  This should take care of any bugs planning on wintering in your house.

Harvest storage onions when the tops fall over.  Spread out in single layer on picnic table.  Leave to dry and toughen up the skins for a week or so.  Cover with a tarp at night or plastic if rain threatens.

Keep turning the compost pile.  Its internal warmth will keep it decomposing long after the garden has frozen solid.  If you turn frequently now you may have enough to topdress your vegetable beds this fall and get a jump on spring soil improvement.

Don’t forget to plant some mums.  You’ll find them at the door to every grocery and home improvement store this time of year.  Properly cared for, they’ll last well into fall and will even survive light frosts.  Mums make a stunning doorway decoration in a decorative pot along with fall gourds and perhaps a cornstalk.