Chrysanthemums - So Easy!

This is a pot of Chrysanthemums from last Fall...they don't look like much now but read on and see the potential they have, not just for my garden but for yours as well!

Have you ever been gifted with a pot of Chrysanthemums? They arrive full of blooms that last for a few weeks, then the blooms fade and more often than not the plant is forgotten only to be dumped in the trash.

Well, today I encourage you to try this! When the blooms fade, pinch back the leaves on the potted plant to a height of 2 inches, dig a hole the size of the pot in your garden, place the plant there and now you can forget about it...well sort of ....

Mine do best in a sunny spot in the gardens and they bloom twice a year...Fall and Spring.

Here's the secret to HUGE, BUSHY Chrysanthemums that are FULL of blooms...

After the Spring blooms fade...I pinch the plants back to a height of 2 inches, then every couple of weeks I pinch the plants back to a one inch higher height...so start at 2 inches-then 3-then 4 and by the middle of July STOP PINCHING BACK THE PLANTS!

Remember to water them during the hottest months....and wait....by the beginning of September you will notice the plants you've been pinching back unmercifully are thriving...by early Fall they will be HUGE mounds of greenery! Then stand back...here come the blooms! There will be a thick blanket of blooms covering the plant surface!

I have some plants that started out measuring a maximum of 4 inches across...by Fall blooming they measure more than 2 feet across!

About every two years I thin out my Chrysanthemum plants. After the Fall blooms fade but before the first freeze, I water the soil enough to make it easy to "dig up" the plants, separating the package of "root to stem plants". Now pop the original plants back in their spot and the new babies into another location in your gardens or even into a pot. Remember to pinch them back again to a 2 inch height.

During the Winter you will think they have died and they will look pitiful until the new cycle starts again in early Spring.

So have fun, throw some color in unexpected places around your gardens! Chrysanthemums take a little effort on your part but the rewards they give back are astounding!

Once you try this I bet you never throw out a pot of Chrysanthemums again!

The plants in the photo actually started as 4 scrawny plants last October and as you can see...they've thickened up nicely and will be blooming by May!