Fall is in the air!  Everywhere you look, retail stores and garden centers are adorned with beautiful displays of garden chrysanthemums, often referred to as “mums”.  These plants thrive in our North Texas Fall climate and will flower annually. Mine often produce a colorful show of vibrant flowers both in early Spring and again in Fall before the first heavy frost. Garden mums are available in a wide variety of colors ranging from white to red, yellow, orange, pink, purple and more in many colorful hues. The flowers vary in style including Anemone, Pompom, Daisy, Spider and more. These perennial plants generally last about five seasons before having to be replaced. Chrysanthemums belong to the Asteraceae family which includes many other well-known flowers such as sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias. This family of flowers has a single flower head with many hundreds of tiny flowers that grow out of one head. 

The history of garden chrysanthemums traces back to early 15^th century China where, according to early writings, they were used as a flowering herb thought to have lifegiving powers. The plant was used in teas, tonics, and astringents. The Chinese city of Chu-Hsien (which means Chrysanthemum City) was named in honor of the flower.  Around the 8th century A.D., the chrysanthemum surfaced in Japan where the flower was so well-liked that it appeared as the crest and the Emperor’s official seal. The first chrysanthemums to reach Europe were probably introduced by Dutch explorers during the 18th century. French Huguenots imported a variety of forms from the Dutch and developed Old Purple, one of the basic mums of European gardens. The Old Purple chrysanthemum was introduced to the Americas in 1798 by John Stevens, a Hoboken, New Jersey, nursery man.(1)  Today, mums are enjoyed worldwide.

Garden mums do best when planted in early spring in a well-drained site that receives an abundance of sunlight.  Spacing should be about 24 inches apart to allow the plants to spread and form mounds as they mature.  Plant at a depth equal to the container the plant was purchased in and water thoroughly after planting. Fertilize the plants to encourage development of thick green foliage and enhanced flower production.  Water in dry fertilizer after it is applied.  Fertilizer should not be applied after flower buds appear. As always, follow label instructions.(2) When starting mums indoors from seeds, allow about 10-15 days for the plant to develop before transferring to the ground.  It will take about another 10-12 weeks before the transplants will bud.

Article by: Sharon McIver, Ellis County Master Gardener

References

1. gertens.com/blog/the-history-of-chrysanthemums

2.  Rodriguez, David Texas A&M university County Extension Agent-Horticulture for Bexar County. Extension   Education in Bexar County Weekly Newsletter, Plant of the Week, October 2, 2006.

 

Recent Blog Posts

Master Gardeners Ask a Master Gardener

We found flowering shrubs at the Learning Garden that we didn’t recognize. Can someone tell us what they are?

Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa)

Mirabilis means wonderful in Latin and Jalapa is the state capital of Veracruz in Mexico. This plant made its way to Spain and then to England. Thomas Jefferson grew it when it was known as Marvel of Peru.

This is a very easy plant to grow. It produces large tubers which make it a Perennial for most of our winters. It also produces lots of seeds which have a high germination rate. It will wilt but perks up after watering. Despite the wilting, it is drought tolerant. It also isn’t picky about soil.

The tubular flowers come in purple, magenta, white, yellow, pink and stripes. They open in the evening or earlier on cloudy days. Hummingbirds and moths like them.

They are excellent flowers for children or for the young at heart. The flowers only last a day, so they are great to pick for making leis or crowns.

You can find packets of seeds easily or go by the Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden in Getzendaner Park in Waxahachie to see them growing. Feel free to take the seeds which are loose and black when ready to be picked.

For the Young or Young at Heart!

Recent Blog Posts:

Winter Paperwhite Narcissus: Paperwhites (N. tazetta papyraccus) produce clusters of small, fragrant white flowers. These are often “forced” into bloom in pots. Those grown in soil save better than those grown in water. Let the foliage die back naturally. Sugars produced by the leaves are stored in the bulbs for next year’s flowers. Once planted, these bulbs bloom very early. Keep an eye on the weather and cut the flowers to bring in before a cold front freezes them. Forced bulbs may not bloom outside the first year.

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Christmas Poinsettias: These plants like to be watered but will rot if watered too frequently. Test weekly and water as soon as the soil feels dry. By April, the Christmas poinsettia is losing its attractiveness. This is the time to prune it back to about 8 inches. By May it should be putting out new growth. If you are going to transplant it, put it in highly organic soil in June. Our winters are often too cold to plant outside. Keep it in indirect but bright natural light. Starting in September, it will start putting out flower buds. Start putting the plant in absolute darkness for about 14 hours each evening and night. Then bring it out into light each day. In about two months, the bracts will start showing color. Bracts are modified leaves; the actual flowers are the yellow parts in the center. Once the bracts are grown and colored, you can once again leave the plant out as a decoration.

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 Mother’s Day Azalea: Ellis County soil is too alkaline to suit azaleas. To keep an azalea, pot it up in a container and fertilize with acidic products marked for azaleas. In a container, they may not be winter hardy, so you will need to shelter them in a greenhouse in winter.

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 Mother’s Day Rose: Roses don’t make good houseplants. They need more light. Admire your rose for the month of May, then plant it in a
sunny area. Roses need six hours sunlight to keep blooming.

Recent Blog Posts:

“After a windstorm, all fruit fell from my mature peach tree. Most peaches had holes in them and worms inside. What causes this”

Answer:

This is probably caused by Plum curculio.

Plum curculio (conotrachelus nenuphar) is one of the most important insect pests attaching fruit trees. The larvae tunnel into developing fruit and render it inedible. Adult snout beetles chew holes in fruit as they feed and for depositing their eggs. Wounds resulting from feeding and egg laying in peaches causes shiny surface areas or disturbed fuzz or bumps on the fruit. Internal injury results from the larvae burrowing into the fruit.

Pest activity is closely tied to temperature with 70°-75°F being ideal. Adults overwinter in ground debris and along fence rows. Adults begin laying eggs in fruit after shucksplit (when the calyx separates from the base of new fruit, about 14 days after bloom) by chewing a hole in the fruit and depositing eggs.

Treat now by clearing all fallen fruit and leaves from under the tree before it blooms. Most larvae-infested fruit will drop to the ground during April or May or result in small mature fruit that is grub infested. Clear these up then to limit infestation next year.

Plum curculio control requires regular insecticide treatments from petal fall to harvest. Note: insecticides applied during bloom will kill honey bees. Suggested pesticides include malathion, carbaryl or permethrin at petal fall and 10-14 day intervals thereafter. Be sure to follow label instructions when using pesticides, including the pre-harvest interval between the last allowed application and harvest date.

Article prepared by Master Gardener Intern, Sharon McIver

Suggested Reading:

E-145 Homeowner’s Guide to Pests of Peaches, Plums and Pecans. At: http://www.plantanswers.com/homeowner_peach_guide.pdf or Texas Cooperative Extension
Bookstore or online at http://tcebookstore.tamu.edu

References:

Mott, Dale A., EA-IPM, Texas Cooperative Extension, Georgetown, Texas & Knutson, Dr. Allen A, Extension Entomologist, Texas Cooperative Extension, Dallas, Texas.extensionentemology.tamu.edu/publications/plumcurculio. Nesbitt, Monte, Most Common Fruit and Nut Tree Problems in Texas.