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Get most out of mums with these tips

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 5, 2018

Tex Lu of West Sacramento won several awards at the 2018 Sacramento Chrysanthemum Show including best three of a kind with this Mount Shasta trio. (Photos courtesy Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society.)

Advice from Sacramento chrysanthemum expert on how to make mums look their best

Mums love Sacramento. Last weekend's Sacramento Chrysanthemum Show at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center offered abundant proof with hundreds of stunning examples.

The large assortment entered by West Sacramento's Tex Lu, whom I interviewed two years ago, was especially impressive. Lu grows hundreds of exhibition mums, all from cuttings in 1-gallon pots.
It's not too late to add mums to your own landscape or help the ones you may already have thrive throughout November.

How do you get your mums to look their best? Here are tips from Lu and the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society:

* Mums have shallow roots. They need water. During dry fall weather, they require extra irrigation. Planted in pots, they tend to dry out quickly. Lu uses drip irrigation for his mums. During summer heat while the plants are growing rapidly, he gives them five minutes every day. In fall, keep their soil evenly moist. (Mulch helps.)

* Mums need good drainage. If planting in containers, use a soil-less mix rich in perlite.

* Mums appreciate feeding. Lu recommends Osmocote slow-release fertilizer. He adds it to the planting mix when transplanting. After that, he feeds his plants once a month with high-phosphate starter fertilizer, providing trace minerals and nutrients for big blooms.

* How do you get mums to bloom in November? Lu transplants his rooted cuttings in February, April and July to guarantee blooms in fall, no matter the summer weather. Pinching back plants in July helps prompt their internal bloom calendar.

Among the honored flowers at the show were this Goldfinger spider mum,
grown by Tex Lu, and this exotic Lilo Galleon mum, grown by Sharon Peterson.

* Want bigger blooms? Pinch off side buds as the plant grows so it concentrates its energy on producing one big flower on one strong stem. That's better for cutting as well as exhibition.

* Mums need support. As plants grow, use bamboo sticks or other supports to hold up those huge flower heads.

* Mums make excellent cut flowers. They'll last longer in the vase if you remove foliage below the water line.

* Enjoy instant color now. If you missed the society's sale, mums in bud or bloom are available at many local nurseries. Transplant them into slightly larger containers with a couple of tablespoons of high-phosphate fertilizer. They'll look good and keep blooming through Thanksgiving and into December.

* Lu’s best tip for novice growers? Join a mum club.

Find out more at www.mums.org .

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fall flowers fertilizing gardening Sacramento Shepard Garden & Arts Center events Sacramento Chrysanthemum Show chrysanthemums exhibition perennials flowers

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Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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