How To Get Mums Blooming

This recently-planted mum is still showing signs of flowers. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Charlotte, Even planted mums never seem to bloom again for me. Do yours really do so? What’s your secret?!” - Lucy

How to Get Mums Blooming

Hi Lucy,

Left unmanaged, chrysanthemums will grow long and leggy with few blooms. To get them to have more flowers, start pinching them back 1-2 inches every week or so during the growing season until July. The pinching will encourage the plant to grow bushy and encourage blooms throughout the cut back plant.

Don’t throw out those trimmings, either. I just gently stick them in the nearby ground and make sure they are watered. They will usually grow a new plant although it may not bloom until the second year.

Charlotte