Mums and More Mums

I really love the colors of mums!

Aren’t there so many colors available?  Even two tones on the same blossom. I have seen so many mums this year, and the colors are just wonderful.  In my garden, I have the deep pink color and some light pink. And yellow too! The full name is chrysanthemum but I think we all say “mums” when we refer to them. These plants are easy to grow and provide a pretty look all season.

Mums also are natural pest repellants. An ingredient for a natural pesticide is derived from chrysanthemum flowers . It is called pyrethrum and can help control aphids and spider mites and more. Did you know that in the early 1800s, French soldiers used crushed mum petals sprinkled in their clothes to combat body lice and fleas?

But at the shops, I have seen the multi-color ones and they are just gorgeous!  I love the compact round bushes which last all season long. The mum plants are such a warm muted green in my opinion. I like the texture and visual impact of those green bushes around my hypertufa troughs. They seem to highlight each other.

In spring when those chrysanthemums come up, I have to keep reminding myself to pinch, pinch, pinch. And when I do remember, I am rewarded with the cute tight bushes that are full of hundreds of buds, I love it.

And you have to admit that the small green bush is a really attractive addition to the garden. It serves as a nice backdrop to other flowers blooming throughout the season. And I think it surrounds my troughs perfectly.

In the fall, I can add the ornamental kale and it just brings it all together. Do you like those “Big Roses”?  That’s what I think they look like. And they have the rosette shape like my sempervivums and I am all for more rosette shapes in the garden.

And the color of the kale goes so well with the stone look of all the hypertufa. Add a few pumpkins and that bumpy squash? and you have a nice vignette.

A lot of the chrysanthemums have the tinier flowers and I like those the best. Others have a fuller bloom.

Take some photos now of your late summer garden and use those to plan what you may want to have next year. The coming fall is a good time to plant evergreens and they are so nice as a backdrop to all of your other plants and containers.

I love the softer branches of the globe arborvitae and the false cypress. Go to a local nursery and touch the evergreens and that can give you an idea of what you want. I have a few of the small varieties right now. But don’t worry about them getting too big. I have removed the ones that I felt got too big for their position in my garden.

When they outgrow the small garden, don’t feel bad. Just remove them. The evergreen branches make good decorations for the fall , and later you can mulch those branches and spread that mulch in the shade garden.

How is your late summer garden looking? Any plans for next year?