——-Mum Culture and Care—— 
CULTURE 
Hardy Garden Mums are among the easiest of all hardy plants to 
grow. They will tolerate almost endless neglect and still survive and 
give some bloom. To have them at their best, give them good culture, 
a sunny location, a rich soil, and do not let them suffer for want of 
moisture during the hot summer. 
Mums in the garden should be planted in an open, sunny location 
and should not be shaded by buildings, large shrubs or trees for more 
than three or four hours per day. Any fairly rich soil, be it sandy, 
clay or loam, that will grow other flowers and vegetables well, will 
also grow good Mums. Peat moss, leaf mold or barnyard manure 
worked into the soil is an excellent conditioner and much to their 
liking. 
PLANTING 
Spring is by far the best planting season. The proper planting 
time is when the spring garden work ts well under way and the heavy, 
1ce-freezing frosts are past. Planting can begin about the time early 
tulips begin to bloom and can be continued until peonies are in 
bloom. Here in southern Minnesota this would be from about late 
April until mid-June. Farther south this date would be advanced 
according to the climate. This gives the plants until fall to develop 
a good root system and enough top to give abundant bloom. Well- 
started plants grown in 214-inch pots and planted with a ball of 
earth around the roots are the most satisfactory. One-year-old, 
field-grown clumps seldom give satisfactory results, for they are hard 
to handle and there are usually not enough roots to support the 
many shoots that spring up. In replanting old clumps, always divide 
them into individual shoots. Those from the outside of the clump 
are the strongest and should be retained; discard the old stumpy 
center crown. Field-grown divisions packed with moss about the 
roots are often offered; these will usually grow but seldom give a 
good account of themselves. 
SUMMER CARE 
Good culture during the summer, with regular 'oosening up of the 
soil about the plants to maintain a constant supply of moisture, to 
aerate the ground, and to keep weeds from becoming established, is 
all that is necessary to grow good Mums. One or two applications of 
a well-balanced commercial fertilizer are beneficial but not absolutely 
necessary. Roughly, about a small handful of commercial fertilizer 
per plant at about one-month intervals is sufficient. The first applica- 
tion can be made in late July or early August. This highly con- 
centrated fertilizer should not be used when the soil is dry, because 
foliage and root burn will result. Be sure that plenty of moisture is 
available at time of application. 
WATERING 
The best way to water Mums is to make a saucer-like depression 
about the plant, Iay the hose on the ground, and let the water run 
slowly. The following day the soil can be loosened up and leveled 
again. A thorough watering like this should be sufficient for a week 
or ten days, even during the hottest and driest weather. Sprinkling 
the plants from overhead should be discouraged, for that invites 
foliage diseases. By keeping the foliage of Mums as dry as possible, 
spraying should not be necessary in order to grow a good crop of 
flowers. 
MUMS FOR YOUR WINDOW- BOX 
When the first light frosts of fall have made your window-boxes 
unsightly by killing the tender plants in them, you can enjoy the full 
glory of Mums. These dreary-looking window-boxes can be trans- 
formed into a fairyland of color for two or three weeks by simply 
transplanting Mums from your garden into them. Select low, com- 
pact plants in full bud and bloom, dig them carefully and plant 
directly in the box. 
OUR SURE-TO-BLOOM PLANTS 
We believe our sure-to-bloom plants, grown from virgin 
cuttings, well established in 2!4-inch pots and sent to you 
with a bali of good soil about the roots are the most practical 
and economical to buy. These will make fine blooming 
plants by October. We have hundreds of letters in our 
files from nearly every state in the country telling us how 
well our plants have done in all sections. Many of these 
plants were shipped over 2000 miles and still did remark- 
ably well. 
PINCHING 
To have sturdy and well-branched plants it is advisable to pinch 
the terminal shoots once or twice during the season. This operation 
is done with the thumb and forefinger and consists of removing about 
lV inch of the soft growing tip of the main shoots. The first prnching 
should be done when the plants are about 6 inches tall, to induce 
lateral branches. When these lateral branches are 8 to 10 inches tall, 
their tips should be removed to induce more branches. Discontinue 
pinching by August 1, as the plants will soon be forming buds. The 
very early-blooming varieties should not be pinched after July 15. 
A well-pinched plant will not need staking or other support, since 
the growth will be strong and sturdy and will stand erect. 
WINTER PROTECTION 
The purpose of winter protection is probably more to keep the 
cold in the ground than to keep it out. A favorable location, one 
which does not allow ice and water to stand over the plants, is very 
necessary. It is the alternate thawing and freezing that does the 
winter damage to garden Mums. After the tops have been killed 
by frost, the stems should be cut off 2 to 3 inches above the crown 
and burned to prevent the spread of foliage disease. We have 
found that any light, porous material that will remain more or less 
dry during the winter is ideal for covering. Excelsior, evergreen 
boughs, marsh hay, and cornstalks are very good if applied after 
the ground is slightly frozen. Leaves applied and kept dry with a 
waterproof covering will also make very fine covering. 
BLOOMING TIME 
It has been definitely proved that Chrysanthemums are sensitive 
to light and that the length of day determines the blooming time for a 
given variety. Shading a [ate-blooming variety with black cloth for a 
few hours, both morning and evening, will hasten its normal bloom- 
ing time by two or three weeks. Electric lights will retard its normal 
blooming period. 
Since Minnesota is quite far north, where naturally the fall days 
are shorter than farther south, a given variety will normally bloom 
20 days earlier here than in Texas. We are located approximately 
200 miles north of Chicago, and we know that the same variety will 
begin blooming for us four or five days sooner than in Chicago. 
From this we deduct that perhaps two days for every 100 miles of 
latitude is about the average difference in blooming time. Interest- 
ing, isn’t it? 
a NN ee 
