Gardeners have two sources of chrysanthemum flowers: from plants that have grown large in their landscape during the summer and from potted specimens that can be planted now. An eight inch potted mum will have hundreds of buds on it, ready to burst with color in a few days.

Plant purchased mums in patio planters or in large pots by your front steps for daily enjoyment. Place them in a former petunia bed for the enjoyment of passersby.

The flowers will last for weeks but the foliage will wither after the first frost. Don’t despair – next spring the leaves will reappear and you can begin the cycle of clipping back the foliage twice before next fall.