Dan's Papers - September 21, 2007

Mums say fall like no other flower can. They go leaf and leaf with cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds, orange and red foliage and apples. As the summer is making its exit, the garden centers are once again alive with color. Rows of white, yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, rust, magenta, rust chrysanthemums - the colors are endless and they are begging to be taken home with you. There are spider mums, daisy mums, spoon type mums, hardy and garden, you name it, it's there. They are so versatile and they are perfect to tuck into the corners of the garden that are becoming sparse with the absence of perennials and annuals. Planted in masses, they take on a vista bursting with color. Mums do well planted in containers as well. Placing them in pots make them so much more portable and an easy clean up when the first frost hits. Going portable has another plus - you can bring your mums into a protected area when you know there will be frost and put them out again in the morning.

Decorating with mums can be started during the middle of September. Days are shorter and these gorgeous flowers are going to make a display like no other. This is a short season so start as early as you can. It takes a lot of will power to remove those summer plants just as they really seem to be doing well. The weather is cooling and it's just what most annuals need. If you don't get rid of some of them, you'll be stuck with your summer garden well into fall and you'll miss out on the warm, homey colors of the fall. Some neat containers for these cheerful plants are wheelbarrows, watering cans, crates, even hollowed out pumpkins filled with soil, just about anything you would sink your other plants into. Window boxes are a popular vessel for holding them along with trailing ivy. Pick up some artificial silk fall leaves and add them to your setting. Wrap them around a post and have several potted mums at the base. Don't skimp on these beautiful plants - scatter them throughout your garden and on your porch or steps.

Mums can be brought into the home for short periods of time. Perhaps you are entertaining and need some seasonal decoration going on in your home. Protect your flooring with some sort of tray at the bottom. Remember to bring them back outside to their home. Use low growing mums with ivy and gourds for a centerpiece for your table. Carve out some pumpkins, fill to the brim with mums and set them around the house for little bursts of the season.

Vintage or new baskets look great decorated with twigs, leaves and mums. A wreath made with moss, fall leaves, twigs and mums bring to life any door or entrance. Strategically placed pots in the garden with a solar spotlight is another welcome. These lights also look attractive at the bottom of the pots serving as uplights.

Mums like to be watered evenly and not too often. Most have shallow roots so they need to be fertilized during the season as well. If you planted your mums in the summer, you would have pinched them back for a second display in the fall. Chrysanthemums are members of the daisy family and there are about 200 species of these ornamental plants. The stems on the flowers are strong and the flowers are showy. The majority of these flowers are late bloomers, short day plants and their flowers are initiated by decreasing the day length. A lovely daisy mum for use in seaside gardens is the Nippon Daisy. It bears white flowers on a 2-foot woody stem. These can't be divided but new plants do grow around their base. Care must be taken in the fall when a frost is in the forecast - they must be covered.

Keep your color combinations easy on the eye. Yellow and rusts match up well with fall leaves and hay. Whites will step up and be formal for urns and estates. Keep your lighter colors in the darker areas, like your porches and shrubbery filled areas and bring forward your darker choices. Next to the holidays of December, fall is the best time for decorating your home. Have fun!