Why Buying Mums in the Hudson Valley is a Scam

Hardy mums are supposed to be perennial plants, so why are we all forced to buy them every year?

Every October I scour the Hudson Valley for the best deal on mums. Usually I can find some nice, healthy plants for around five bucks to bring home and arrange on the porch next to the pumpkins. For years, after Halloween I've carefully taken the mums and planted them in the ground. Advertised as perennials, I assumed they'd return the next year. But when spring arrives, there's always nothing.

It turns out that I'm not terrible at gardening. The problem is that "big mum" has got us all fooled.

a group of flowers

Planting Mums in the Fall is a Fool's Errand

Horticultural experts at the Iowa State University Extension say that planting mums in the fall usually ends in disappointment. They explain that spring-planted mums have the entire growing season to get established. Those purchased and planted in late summer or fall often haven’t developed a strong enough root system to survive a Hudson Valley winter. However, good luck finding them for sale in the spring.

If you already have garden mums planted in the ground this fall, you can improve their chances for survival. A sunny location and soil that drains well are important. Mums have shallow roots that can be damaged by repeated freezing and thawing, especially when drainage is poor. But it's still unlikely those plants will have enough time to acclimate to their new home before the winter.

yellow flowers

But if you're really determined to make it work, you’ll also want to resist cutting everything down once the flowers fade. Iowa State recommends leaving the stems standing through winter and adding protective mulch after the ground freezes for the best possible chance at survival.

For most of us, all of that work just isn't worth it when you can slap down a few bucks in October and get a huge plant bursting with color. We should just face the fact that mums are going to be one of those perennial flowers that we all get suckered into buying every year.