to perennials such as hostas or lilies. By June, the mum will have achieved "plant presence" but still be on the small size.

Summer: By July, My Favorite Perennial Mum will present a nice mounded form, fully filled-in with attractive green foliage. By August, it will reach its full size for that season. Buds will be forming.

By the second season, mums planted two to three feet apart will merge to create a gently undulated mounded hedge or border effect.

Fall: My Favorite Perennial Mum bursts into bloom, full-tilt, with no gaps from the ground to the top!

Winter: as My Favorite Perennial Mum is a herbaceous plant, it will die back over the winter. cut back frost-wilted foliage for a tidier look over winter (or do this the next spring before growth commences).

Subsequent Seasons: My Favorite Perennial Mum is a true perennial. It will return and increase in size for many seasons with minimal care. Simply cut back to the ground in late fall after the plant has died back or in early spring before the new growth appears.

Bush Habit: A lush, bushy plant that is self-branching. Its branches are strong with sufficient spring to handle its ultiimate size and volume of blossoms. Other mums might prove brittle - but not this one. Its branches are durable, they have "bounce-back" and won’t spilt. The bush first expands outward to the sides, they promptly mounds upward at the centre.
Underground, My Favorite Perennial Mum is also dramatically different from other mums. Its rhizomatous root structure is particularly vigorous, forming a thick, compact clump that spreads underground to support the increasing size of the plant material up above.
Plant Size:
Size by season Height Diameter
1st Fall 12-inches 12-20 inches
Fall 2 12-16 inches 22-30 inches
Fall 3 14-22 inches 36-40 inches
Fall 4 17-26 inches 42-45 inches
Fall 5 22-32 inches 46-50 inches
These are the new varieties soon to be available in North America.

Mum Yellow

Autumn Red

Fertilizer: Yes, applying fertilizer will improve plant performance:

use a flowering plant formula such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12

• with liquid plant food, apply monthly
• with slow-release plant food, apply twice per season
• with slow-release plant food, apply twice per season

Pinching: No Need! And for a mum, no pinching is definitely a convenience factor!

During their initial development stage in commerical production, My Favorite Perennial Mums are pinched - and never need pinching again. As self-branching mums, subsequent pinching can actually reduce the eventual size of this easy-care plant.

Flower Colour: My Favorite ‘Autumn Red’ - rich deep red petals, with a brilliant yellow center marked by a snappy dark bull’s eye. Flowers fade to any antique terra cotta. However, fresh bloom is so abundant that the Autumn Red colour will continue to dominate the plant’s colour spectrum throughout the bloom season.
Additional colours will be introduced in 2002
Special Care: None. No pinching. No deadheading. Just cut back to the ground after frost has wilted the foliage, or in the early spring before new growth commences.
Moving: My Favorite Perennial Mums can generally accommodate themselves if planted closer together than is optimal. However, if crowding occurs or a new location is desired, they can be transplanted with little trauma to the plant (though, with such a hefty root structure, transplanting can be a chore).
Best time to transplant is early spring, before growth gets underway. More mature plants will be more difficult to move due to the size of the rhizome clump. Space plants to allow for future growth.

In a Nutshell:
No pinching, no pruning - just blooming!

Coral Mum

Mum Pink

Mum White