Glamorous greenhouse mums can be grown outdoors. An enthusiastic group of backyard gardeners in St. Louis, Missouri, proves it. Although none of these enthusiasts use identical methods, they all manage to coax prodigious bloom from small plantings.
And, remarkably enough, the fancy big mums are proving to be about as cold-resistant as the so-called hardy varieties.
One of the pioneers among these is John Ollinger, who began growing greenhouse-type varieties seven years ago in his garden. He was encouraged in the experiment because one greenhouse chrysanthemum, produced so well out-of-doors.
However, before he made his first planting, Mr. Ollinger consulted several commercial growers. They urged him to stick to hardy garden varieties. But he disregarded their advice and went ahead—with gratifying results.
Every autumn since then has seen a fabulous display in his garden.
His vast, perfect mums impressed even his Friends who grow Dahlias—where king-sized blooms are the rule and not the exception. So many members have since become chrysanthemum fans.
Striving for perfection, these green-thumbed St. Louisans casually cull out blooms that most of us would welcome and admire. They lavish painstaking care on their plants, erecting ingenious shades and shelters as soon as the buds show color.
Of course, the blooms are more handsome when protected from the weather. But, the average gardener will be relieved to know that they can grow an abundance of big, beautiful flowers without these aids. Most greenhouse-type varieties are not a bit miffy and live quite happily in open beds.
Deep Cup-Shaped Buds
Mr. Ollinger explains that the deep cup-shaped buds of the large doubles tend to hold dirt and water and are subject to rot.
It is possible to tip the buds and drain them after every rain, but he has found it easier to protect the entire bed with an “umbrella” made of plastic fastened to a frame and supported by four tall stakes.
This shade is still being used on a small demonstration plot, but most of his big mums grow in a fancy shelter house—a white-painted skeleton of 2x4s that can be enclosed with a plastic sash during the flowering season. It covers 12’ feet square and provides space for a U-shaped flower bed with a wide aisle in the middle.
Sixty pampered, marvelously healthy plants 4’ to 6’ feet tall with thick, rich green leaves down to the ground grow in his shelter. These mums produce at least 500 specimen flowers, for the plants average from seven to ten blooms each.
Silver Sheen often has 16 perfect flowers, and one fabulous plant put out 50 blossoms, although they were somewhat smaller than usual.
Ordinarily, Mr. Ollinger does not sacrifice size for the quantity of bloom. Soft globes of white, yellow, pink, lavender, and mauve average 6” inches in diameter. A late yellow, and pink may measure more than 7” inches. Petals of the spider mum were almost a foot long.
Such remarkable results are made possible because the plants are practically stuffed with food which is washed down with copious draughts of water. This forced feeding begins with careful soil preparation in autumn.
Moving The Plants After Winter
After the plants are lifted and moved to winter quarters in cold frames, soon after the first hard freeze, Mr. Ollinger spreads an inch-deep layer of poultry manure over the beds and spades it in, along with remnants of cow manure mulch, compost, and other available organic matter.
The leaves the soil rough but scatters poultry manure on the beds—Winter rains, snows, and freezing condition the ground, so little spring preparation is needed.
In March or April, cuttings are rooted in flats of sand. These sturdy shoots are kept on a screened porch but must be brought indoors if the temperature drops much below freezing.
They root in about four weeks and are moved to the garden in mid-May.
A system of post and twine supports like those used by commercial growers is installed at planting time. When the mums are about 8” inches tall, Mr. Ollinger soft-pinches them, taking off just the tender tips.
About two weeks later, after the laterals have formed, he disbuds, leaving from seven to ten canes per plant. As the stems grow, he ties them to the overhead support to hold them straight and keeps disbudding so that each plant develops a single perfect flower.
About the end of June, the beds are mulched with a 4” inch layer of well-rotted cow manure, which serves a double purpose.
It keeps the soil moist and cool and provides a portion of “weak tea” liquid manure with every rain. During summer droughts, the beds get a thorough soaking every five days. As autumn approaches, they are watered more often.
Keeping An Eye Out For Pests
Mr. Ollinger’s hardy plants seem resistant to insects and disease, but he watches them closely and sprays at the first sign of trouble. He uses malathion or neem oil against aphids, red spiders and thrips.
At the end of the season, he lifts the clumps and places them close together on the ground in a cold frame. As protection against rain and sunburn, he covers them with excelsior and then with a whitewashed glass sash. The sash is propped up on the leeward side for ventilation.
“The mums freeze in the frames,” Mr. Ollinger says, “but they can take the cold if you can keep them from drowning. One ‘tender’ mum was left overwinter on the open ground beneath an apple tree. The temperature went to 10° degrees Fahrenheit below zero that winter, but the plant bloomed the following fall.
“Chrysanthemums are easy flowers,” he adds. “Anyone can grow the early ones. If a frost threatens, throw something over the top of the plants. The late varieties do need some protection at flowering time in November.”
Hubert Sandefur Reports
Other members have found big mums reasonably cold-tolerant. Hubert Sandefur reports that his plants will winter if they have perfect drainage. He suggests! Tilling the plants and mulching with seed-free straw. A mulch that absorbs too much moisture packs down and causes rot.
When soot and dirt proved to be a problem in Mr. Sandefur’s garden, he put a plastic sash over his beds of big mums.
One year he tried an ambitious planting in a neighboring lot but was soon convinced that it is better to give close attention to 60 plants than to ration his time among 600. Last fall, the greenhouse-type mums enjoyed a new frame and plastic shelter.
Frank Moeller Shares
Frank Moeller worked under a real handicap when he planted the big mums in his brand-new garden in Missouri. The topsoil had been skinned off, leaving the stickiest of yellow clay. Yet, he converted this unpromising subsoil into mellow, productive loam in a single season.
He began the previous fall when the entire garden was seeded to rye. In November, the cover crop was turned under in a 12×12-foot area selected for the mum bed. He spaded in a 4” inch layer of cow manure in this small space, an equal quantity of partly rotted compost, and 50 pounds of sheep manure.
When he worked the soil again in the spring, he added 15 to 20 pounds of 0-10-10 fertilizer to provide ample phosphorus and potash.
Mr. Moeller added a new wrinkle —a built-in watering system. He fastened a ½” inch pipe along three sides of the framework about a foot from the ground. Holes were then drilled in the lines, spaced so that the water was directed toward the beds and not the blooms.
About twice a week during the fall, he attaches the hose to the end of the pipe and lets the water run slowly until the beds are thoroughly soaked.
Raymond Grass Started Small
Raymond C. Grass, started with 25 plants three years ago. Soon he had 100 football mums growing in a 22’x11’-foot bed. Different varieties were arranged with an eye for color effect, with 70 plants of small-flowered mums massed in the foreground for a border planting.
Mr. Grass gives each plant individual support made from a ¾” inch reinforcing rod with a stabilizer to hold it firmly in the ground. I painted them green, and these supports are almost invisible. He also devised a tidy metal framework to protect the big mums.
In the fall, he hooks on a plastic sash over the top of the new weather-tight side sections, which are installed at the approach of freezing weather.
William Avis – Starting His Plants
William Avis, who grows about a hundred greenhouse-type mums in his garden, has worked out an assembly-line system for starting his plants.
Cuttings are rooted in his basement equipped with fluorescent lights. Infant plants are grown in an electrically heated hotbed and are then hardened off in a cold frame.
Mr. Avis prepares relatively shallow beds in the spring, digging manure into the top 4” inches.
Soon after the mums are planted, be gives them a “shot” of ammonium nitrate. He mulches them with an inch or two of manure in mid-June and then adds 2” inches of compost or rotted leaves on top.
Fertilized Every Two Weeks
He feeds his mums with liquid fertilizer solution every two weeks from late July until mid-September. Last fall, he tried emulsified fish fertilizer with excellent results.
Big Mums Ralph Rabenau
Ralph Rabenau, growing the big mums for several years, has many favorites. He starts both mum and dahlia cuttings in plant bands and finds 600 can be grown in a 6’ x 6’ foot frame.
He buys a load of manure each spring, digs half into the soil, and saves the rest for summer mulch. Two rectangular beds accommodate about 100 chrysanthemums each. He is trained to a tomato stake. During the season, he makes about three applications of 5-10-5 chemical fertilizers.
For a few weeks in the fall, Mr. Rabenau uses a temporary shelter made from storm windows supported by 2X2s. When cold weather threatens, he adds side curtains. This is a satisfactory arrangement, he says. For the mums are blooming before the storm, windows are needed for the house.
Organic L.C. “Pat” Bennett
L.C. “Pat” Bennett has grown the big mums for just three years. He follows the organic method, producing such husky plants that there were more than 100 giant blooms in a pint-sized, 4’x8’ foot bed.
He added two more beds of the same size. One will supply blooms from October 1 to 15. A second will begin around October 20, and the third will flower in November. These late varieties will be snugly protected with a new plastic shelter.
Growing Potted Mums Dan O’Gorman
Dan O’Gorman, likes to grow the big mums in pots and usually has from 40 to 50 hardy plants.
Mr. O’Gorman grows his cuttings in a window greenhouse. As soon as the plants are well rooted, they are moved into 8” inch pots, which have an inch of gravel in the bottom.
He uses a rich soil mixture composed of two parts good sandy loam, one part leafmold, and one part rotted manure.
When he moves the pots into the garden, he plunges them to the rim in soil but sees a 2” inch layer of gravel beneath. This improves drainage and curbs over-eager roots from venturing into the ground.
The plant is sprayed regularly, and each one is fed once a month with 1/2 teaspoon of chemical fertilizer, worked into the surface, and watered in. These potted plants must be watched and watered as needed, for it is not safe to depend on rains.
Mr. O’Gorman usually disbuds to two to four canes per pot, but he sometimes allows a few plants to branch freely. In late fall, blooming plants are brought inside and, when kept on an unheated sun porch, often flower until Christmas.
After his mums have stopped blooming, he sinks some of the pots in a cold frame and keeps the rest beside a large window in an unheated upstairs room. The plants which stay inside need very little water during the winter. They remain green and are ready for an extra early start.
44659 by Eleanor H. Myclure