My neighbor asked, “ how do I know my mum is still alive”? If a mum’s roots are white and look healthy, then the plant is alive, but it may need some tender loving care to revive it. Cut back the stems of the mums to 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm.) above the ground. Leaving a little bit of the stems will ensure that next year you will have a full plant, as the new stems will grow from these trimmed stems. If you cut the mums back to the ground, fewer stems will grow next year. When everyone else is at the nursery or garden center buying mums, you can buy a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks instead.
I have not had much luck keeping my ball mums past one season. I think that these are sold as annual color here in north Texas. I'm certainly going to give the above helpful hints a try.
I have a perennial mum called "Country Girl" that comes back year after year without much help from me at all! In fact, a one gallon door prize won ten years ago has spread its way all around my house. I've helped it skip a sidewalk or two with a trowel and some persistent early watering.
It is so prolific that I have scads still struggling in shady spots. I'm sure that it would love to be freed into the sunshine. If you…