If you happen to love chrysanthemums or 'mums' and want to grow them in pots, then happily, it is straightforward and very rewarding.
Since they are such generous flowerers, and they bloom later in the year than most others in the garden, growing chrysanthemums has been, for many generations, a long-established way to inject color into an otherwise bland scene, in the chillier months.
Here's all you need to know to grow happy and healthy chrysanthemums in pots.
1. Get the soil conditions right
First and foremost, ensure you are using a suitable soil type that chrysanthemums thrive in.
Moist but well-drained, fertile soil is best for chrysanthemums. I recommend using any normal peat-free compost you have to hand and adding a little bit of coco peat, available at Amazon, which will prevent root rot and keep it draining well.
2. Position and aspect
Choose a sunny but sheltered spot for your pot-grown chrysanthemums. Apart from a few late summer flowering varieties, the majority of mums flower around September or October right through to Christmas.
By the time the flowers are at their peak and the stems are at their tallest, which tends to be around this time, the wind, rain, and autumnal weather will be looming large.
With this in mind, a sheltered spot would serve best so they don't suffer or snap. You may find that staking, which can look really beautiful. For this, consider something from the garden or small bamboo canes that can be found on Amazon.
To avoid them toppling over, snapping, or getting damaged, keep them stocky and healthy and prevent them from shooting up and getting leggy. This is where pinching out plants is vital.
Once your pot-grown mums get to about 5 inches tall, simply use your fingers to 'pinch out' the top to remove the growing tip so the plant is encouraged to send out new side shoots. This is the key to successfully growing mums in pots.
3. Feeding
Feeding chrysanthemums will ensure you are maximising their flowering potential and prolong their flowering season.
Feeding the soil every two weeks throughout the growing season will also help set them up for a healthy winter, so they don't die when the temperature plummets.
Simply add a little amount of organic plant food like this one available at Amazon, regularly and any homemade compost from your garden, too.
4. Watering
Chrysanthemums are very thirsty flowers since they are very shallow-rooted.
With this in mind, if you are growing them in pots, they will need deep watering daily throughout summer, and once the weather cools, once a fortnight should be more than sufficient.
5. Which 'mums' to pick?
Chrysanthemums can be both annual and perennial. Simply check the plant information on the tag when purchasing, to ensure you pick the right variety for you.
Most chrysanthemums are annual varieties, and will just do one single season. If grown in a pot, they will deliver months of brightly colored flowers and then be composted at the end of the season. If you are simply after a riot of color during the cooler months, then these are perfect for you.
Perennial varieties, often referred to as 'hardy mums' are, in my opinion at least, far superior, and they will return year after year, getting better with each year they grow. But there is one caveat to this: they tend to sulk once the weather turns really nasty.
6. Overwintering
Potted plants are more susceptible to frost damage because they don't have the insulated benefits of those planted in the ground.
Once the winter weather really sets in and the mild autumnal days dwindle, and the evenings become very chilly and frosty, you will need to protect your hardy chrysanthemums, or they may die.
As soon as you see that the first frost is forecast, you should overwinter plants indoors by moving the potted chrysanthemums into a greenhouse, polytunnel, garage, or porch until the risk of frost has passed. If you have nowhere suitable to move them to, you can protect plants from frost with a frost cloth of horticultural fleece. You can also use bed sheets to protect plants from frost.
Our pick of chrysanthemum varieties
Unbeatable for a riot of color around Halloween. The quilled petals, golden yellow with red tips, sparkle like matchsticks.
I am obsessed with the use of acid green in the garden to cut through the deluge of pinks and purples. These citrusy pom poms are gorgeous.
These are easy pot-grown mums in a deep burnt orange terracotta shade, which looks beautiful alongside deep crimson and emerald greens.
There are many chrysanthemum alternatives you could try instead, or alongside mums, too, and dahlias, such as Dahlia 'Nicholas', available at Eden Brothers, and Dahlia 'Brown Sugar' are particularly stunning when planted in pots with mums. Just be sure to add a lovely trailing plant to stick to the thriller, filler, and spiller rule.
