Fall’s Favorite Flower

This Week In Ag #186

Fall is known for creating brilliant and beautiful colors. Among the most beloved are those produced by Chrysanthemums, aka mums. As petunias, geraniums and zinnias begin to fade in the fall, mums flourish.

Why’s that?

Mums are short-day plants. They’re triggered to bloom as days get shorter and nights get longer. They only bloom when there’s less than 12 hours of light. Other seasonal favorites share similar photoperiod traits, including poinsettias and Christmas cactus.

Mums are the best-selling perennials in the USA; Americans spend over $220 million on potted garden mums each year. They produce dense, vibrant blooms of yellow, orange, purple, red and white, and can be multi-colored. They perform great in the ground, in pots, or in hanging baskets. You often see them surrounded by pumpkins, gourds, straw bales or other fall ornaments.

Plus, they are easy to care for. Mums prefer crisp, cool temperatures, tolerating cold nights that dip slightly below freezing. They only need to be watered a few times a week (although be careful not to pour water over their blooms, as that can make them turn brown and mushy).

Chrysanthemums originated in China, having been cultivated for over 3,000 years. They were grown for medicinal purposes, to treat headaches and other ailments. Chrysanthemum represented autumn as part of the Four Nobility in Chinese art, along with orchids of spring, bamboo of summer and plum blossom of winter. In the 17^th century, Dutch merchants brought the flowers to Europe, and the Netherlands continues to be Europe’s top grower and the world’s top exporter of mums. Most of the cut mums we receive are exported from Colombia and Ecuador, while the potted mums come from regional greenhouses across the USA.