To grow mums in cold and northern climates, first make sure you are selecting a mum hardy enough for your growing zone. That will give it plenty of time to become well established before winter hits. Plant your mums where they will get plenty of sunlight, minimum of a half day but a full day is best.
The shortening sunlight as fall approaches is what triggers mums to bloom, so don't confuse them by planting them where they get extended light from outdoor lighting. Plant your mums in good garden soil, well drained, and they prefer a slightly alkaline soil. It is important the soil be well drained, the roots detest being wet over winter. Fertilize your mums every three to four weeks until the buds appear. And pinch off the top inch or two of growth every three or four weeks into July to encourage dense bushy growth and tons of blooms.
When your plant has finished blooming, it's time to get it ready for winter. Do not cut the plant down to the ground until spring, it will get through winter best if the top growth traps leaves and holds snow to help insulate the roots. It is best to apply several inches of mulch around the plant after the soil freezes to protect the roots in case you don't get much snow to insulate them. Your roots will likely still freeze, but heavy mulch, straw or evergreen branches or snow will prevent damage from frost heaves and freeze/thaw cycles.
In the spring, wait for the soil to thaw and begin to warm before removing mulch and old foliage. It would be illogical to consider any other plant that is as perfect as this one for brightening up the shady garden. Found as a naturally occurring mutation from the popular 'Captain Kirk' Plantain Lily (must be the Romulans!), the leaves have a pure white center and a dark green edge.
The pale lavender flowers that appear in summer also have distinctive white stems. It grows to 15 inches tall by 24 inches wide in full sun to partial shade. It grows approximately 2 inches tall and will spread to a size of about 15 to 20 inches wide in a tight mat of evergreen foliage. In the winter the foliage will turn to bronze also.
It is an ideal and easy to grow rock garden plant. Coral bells are reliable and easy to grow plants that offer a host of colours to the garden. This new variety offers frilly green leaves and short stems of white flowers in late spring. While it will take a little sun, it's happiest in partial shade to shady conditions. This vigorous groundcover will look good all season with little maintenance. In late spring, white flowers with pink outer petal layers begins to appear and it continues to bloom sporadically throughout the summer.
The fragrant, glossy green leaves take on reddish tints in fall. It perfoms best in well-drained soil with some dappled shade in the afternoons. Hardy geraniums are wonderful filler plants for any landscape. It grows 10 to 12 inches high by roughly 24 inches wide.
This bright 'beacon in the garden' combines outstanding vigour combined with brassy gold and red spring coloured maple shaped leaves. Tall spikes of white flowers on dark stems appear in mid summer, and the foliage changes to winter colouring of olive and brown. It offers the most effective colour contrast if it is grown in some shade, and grows 18 to 20 inches tall. Spear shaped shiny, bright golden yellow leaves turn chartreuse with a wide dark green margin. Lavender flowers bloom in July on attractive purple tinted scapes. The thick leaves hold up well all summer long and the best color tends to develop when grown in dappled sun, although it grows well in full shade.
Low maintenance perennial from Proven Winners produces incredibly dark stems in the spring, followed by olive green leaves with silver veins. Star-shaped, periwinkle blue flowers appear atop of the wide, mounding, shrub-like habit in late spring – early summer. Tolerates part to full sun and can grow inches tall and inches wide. I call the potted mums that make it through the winter my "surprise" mums. I can never decide which mum colors I like best, so I usually end up buying a rainbow of pink, lavender, red, bronze, yellow, gold and white for fall decorating. By the time I've uncovered and/or replanted several winter survivors in the spring, I don't remember what color flowers any particular plant will produce.
It's a lovely surprise in the fall when each mum's tightly closed buds finally open to reveal their color. Because these flowers have developed in my garden instead of being forced into bloom at a nursery, they seem to be extra tough. The fact that I have pinched them back until mid-summer causes the mums to open late -- not before October.
Each bold dark red star on this striking foliage plant is edged with a bright yellow border, sure to brighten any sun to partial shade garden. This plant grows 10 inches tall and flowers in June and July. These BELARINA® primroses are refined beauties that completely embody the joy and hope that spring offers! Their sizable double blossoms open white then take on a lilace pink blush and bloom profusely throughout the spring season atop the compact, bright green foliage. Plant grows 5-8 inches tall and inches wide in part to full shade.
Often re-blooms in late summer and early fall. It grows inches tall and wide in full sun. Massive glossy, mahogany red leaves form a substantial clump of foliage. Large burgundy flower stems hold light pink buds with cream flowers.
Foliage mass grows inches tall and inches wide in sun or shade. Plant mums as soon as the soil warms in the spring. From late spring to mid-summer, pinch back the tips and flower buds on all shoots to make the plant bushier and prepare it for a dramatic fall show.
For optimal blooming, the plants should be fertilized regularly throughout the growing season. After the blooms fade, cut the plants down to about 6 inches, and cover them with straw or another dry mulch to protect the roots over winter. Established plants should be lifted and divided every two to three years. In general, the mums covered with buds or already blooming that are widely available in garden centers in the fall are either not hardy or will not overwinter well. Even hardy mums will not have a chance to establish before winter so they probably won't survive, especially if left in a container rather than in the ground. They are not annuals, but in cold zones some are considered tender or half hardy perennials, and will not return the following season.
These mums are quite cold tolerant and will keep blooming at least until first frost if not longer. In warm regions these mums will likely return the following year. Don't cut them back until spring, they will have a better chance of surviving winter. This narrow bladed low growing mondo grass features sparkling white foliage.
It grows to 12 inches tall and will spread to approximately 36 inches wide in part sun to light shade. Winter mulching of this plant is recommended, as it is hardy to zone 6 (and therefore should be sited in a protected location in K-W). This well behaved, compact 'Shasta' bears masses of fluffy, fully fringed white flowers; the finely-cut petals surrounding a gold button centre. Growing inches tall and wide in sun or part shade, it makes an ideal edging plant or to be added to mixed containers. Removing faded flowers increases the blooming time.
Divide plants in spring every 2-3 years to maintain vigour. Bold specimen plant forms a clump of deeply cut, rather spiny dark green leaves and bears upright spikes of hooded, mauve and white flowers in summer. Looking for an orange foliage plant for your shade garden?
This plant has deep blue green foliage with a silver lacy overlay. Clusters of salmon pink buds open to a soft pink flower. It flowers in mid-summer and grows 24 to 36 inches tall in partial shade. Switch grass gets its name from the gentle sounds it makes in the wind.
Growing to in a upright dense clump to 4 feet tall by about 32 inches wide, this new variety is one of the most durable and easy of grasses to grow. It grows best in full sun, and will provide cover for birds in the winter. Cinnamon Starburst™ has a unique color pattern. In a mature plant, the outer leaves of the rosette are a deep cinnamon red that circles the inner bright green foliage. The smaller rosette 'chicks' that form around the 'hen' can be separated and planted elsewhere if desired. Growing only 2" tall and spreading to 12" wide, it is a great addition for rock gardens, low borders, and patio planters as well.
Very drought tolerant and grows in full sun to light shade. Vibrant lavender-pink flowers with darker pink calyxes appear in late spring and summer on a rounded, dense clump that grows inches tall and inches wide in full sun. Cut back after flowering to promote re-blooming. Clouds of showy double pink flowers top this tight, rounded mound of blue-green foliage putting on an unforgettable show from mid spring through early summer. Ideal as a mass planting or crazy bloomer in a mixed perennial container! Grows 6-8 inches tall and wide in full or part sun.
This pretty plant was bred in 1858 in France, and has a classic perennial in gardens around the world. The clump-forming, bushy, erect plants with long stems that extend to 3' in size have blossoms of intense bright white with a green centre that appear in late summer. It is a very low maintenance plant that can be grown in sun or partial shade on well-drained soils. It is an attractive contrast to the colours of gold and red that appear in fall. However, there are varieties that are truly perennial in most climates when planted in the early spring or in the fall several weeks before the first frost.
These plants grow fast, and you should have flowers in the first growing season. Bloom times vary with variety and climate from early September through mid-October. My first experience with overwintering a chrysanthemum was a happy accident. After my garden center mums were done blooming at the end of the fall, I removed them from their pots and tossed them into the compost pile. The following spring, I was surprised to find healthy new chrysanthemum leaves sprouting from the sides of the pile. By placing the mums' roots in a protected spot, I had inadvertently provided just the right winter environment for my forgotten plants.
I have since gone on to try overwintering potted mums in the ground. Even in my zone 5 garden, these plants often make it through the winter. This series is likely among the most hardy of the mums. 'Morden Canary' is of course a bright yellow with deep golden yellow eyes. I have seen claims that this one is hardy to zone 3a.'Morden Delight' produces bright orange red flowers. 'Morden Fiesta' produces bright purply pink flowers.'Morden Garnet' has bright deep red blooms.
A Canadian nursery lists 'Garnet' as hardy to zone 3. And 'Morden Cameo' has white blooms with yellow eyes, I have seen this one sold by a Minnesota nursery that claims it is hardy to zone 3a. That said, Id like to give you some some tips to boost your chances of keeping mums as perennials. Avoid planting them in areas subject to cold, drying northerly or northwesterly winds. Plant cold-hardy mums, like those with cultivar names beginning with Minn. Stop fertilizing plants by the end of July to discourage new growth late in the season.
To promote roots that are well established by winter, keep the soil moist, but not soggy, throughout the fall. After the soil freezes, add several inches of a loose mulch, such as straw or hay, around the plants to a depth of several inches. Wait until spring to cut the plants backthe stems will protect the crown .
I've also had success overwintering mums in containers by putting them in an unheated garage and keeping the soil barely moist. This is a brand new dwarf charmer for the shade garden. Blue green leaves with creamy white edges are highlighted with lavender flowers in mid-summer. It grows a mere 8 inches tall and spreads to just 12 inches wide, and offers an opportunity for a splash of brightness in any small shady nook.
This sport of Hosta 'June', it is a dwarf mounding hosta that produces gold leaves with a thin, blue-green margin. Pale lavender flowers on proportionate stems are produced in mid to late summer. Plant grows 8 inches tall and 15 inches wide in part shade. This hardy new grass is quite the show off, with bright green and white variegated bamboo-like foliage and showy drooping flower/seed heads in the summer.
It grows to 30 inches tall by 18 inches wide and does best in partial shade. Tall clump-forming plants growing 32 inches tall prefer moist soil and can be grown in boggy soil near the water's edge. Plants produce huge flat crepe paper-like red-purple flowers dramatically splashed with yellow signals, blooming in late spring to early summer. Clouds of bright red flowers top this tight, rounded mound of blue-green foliage putting on an unforgettable show from mid spring through early summer. Ideal as for mass planting or in a mixed perennial container! Grows 8-10 inches tall and inches wide in full or part sun.
This brightly colored fragrant perennial produces single, vibrant magenta pink flowers atop a low mound of glaucous blue foliage. Use it to edge sunny borders and pathways. Growing 6-8 inches tall, it spreads inches wide in sun or part shade.
Stiff upright folded narrow green leaves with thin gold margins give this plantain lily an almost 'grass-like' appearance. It grows to 15 inches tall and 12 inches wide in partial shade to shade, and produces lavender flowers in mid-summer. Well deserving of the Honour, this stunning hosta produces thick heart-shaped leaves with very wide, wavy, green margins. The narrow, creamy white markings in the center of the leaves shoot out from the cream coloured petioles in a feathery pattern.
