Like pumpkins, chrysanthemums (mums for short) are a part of fall. Three types of mums are useful fall bloomers for different reasons.
‘Point Pelee’ mum
Many modern hybrid mums were bred by crossing Chrysanthemum indicum with other Chrysanthemum species. With the new cultivar “Point Pelee,” C. indicum now has a chance to shine on its own.
Point Pelee took Charleston “by storm” in fall 2023 when it was marketed everywhere from garden centers to local grocery stores. And with good reason. Its eye-catching flowers are red, orange and yellow with shades of gold and rust.
Point Pelee mums are named after Point Pelee, Ontario, the southernmost tip of Canada. The reds and yellows of its famous fall foliage are reproduced in the vibrant, multicolored mum flowers.
“Gethsemane Moonlight” is a vigorous hardy mum that blooms in late fall.
Anthony Keinath/Provided
These mums were bred and selected to look stunning both outside and indoors as living fall decorations and table centerpieces.
Point Pelee mums are tougher than they look. If their soil dries out to the point where the leaves wilt, they will quickly rebound when watered. (Don’t try this at home.)
Even better than the stunning flowers is the plant’s ability to rebloom multiple times. My first plant bloomed outdoors from October 2023 when I bought it until the following June — an amazing feat for a chrysanthemum.
Like “Hot Lips” salvia, which has more white than red flowers in summer, Point Pelee flowers shift color in the heat, becoming more yellow than red. They still have their characteristic striping in shades of yellow and gold. Flowering stops during the long days of summer.
Just when I was considering whether to discard the lanky remains, buds appeared at the end of September 2024. I decided the plant was a keeper and planted three pieces in a backyard bed in early spring 2025. They bloomed in May and June and now have new tiny buds.
While I was deciding the fate of my plant, I found a now-forgotten website that said Point Pelee mums don’t rebloom. Perhaps they don’t rebloom where that gardener lives, but they certainly do in Charleston — and I strongly suspect throughout South Carolina.
By spring, plants will grow taller with smaller leaves. The resulting growth of Point Pelee is much closer to the natural size of C. indicum, which can reach 3 feet tall. This change is due to a diluting of the growth-regulating hormones that most annuals, some perennials and even a few shrubs (like dwarf southern yew) are treated with in the greenhouse or nursery.
As one greenhouse owner is reported to have said, people want to buy flowers, not leaves. Spraying plants with hormones is one way to make plants look like they have more flowers than leaves. As a side note, hormone treatment in greenhouses is why home-grown annuals often are taller than “store-bought” ones.
Another reason to keep Point Pelee mums is they are mostly deer-resistant. Like African daisy (Osteospermum), mums provide daisy-shaped flowers in areas frequented by urban deer, like the adorable fawn I saw hiding in a thicket of yaupon holly in my backyard this past May. Other popular daisy-like flowers, like Shasta daisy, coneflower and black-eyed Susan, are frequently eaten by deer.
Hybrid mums are a favorite fall flower.
Anthony Keinath/Provided
Hybrid mums
Typical hybrid mums (Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum) with 1-inch-wide, dense flowers come in many solid colors. After they stop blooming, they also can be planted in the ground in well-drained soil in the fall to prolong their usefulness. They rebloom the following summer and fall if fertilized. Hybrid mums, though, may not persist longer than a year in the ground in lower South Carolina.
Hardy mums
Hardy or perennial mums (Chrysanthemum morifolium) are old-fashioned mums that will persist year-to-year with little care. They spread prolifically into a loose mass of plants. The flowers are 2 inches in diameter, twice the size of hybrid mums, with long petals like a daisy. These mums bloom in late October for a month.
I grow pale-yellow “Gethsemane Moonlight.” This cultivar tolerates part shade and, unlike hybrid mums, is not bothered by tree roots. Another recommended cultivar is pale pink “Country Girl.”
Chrysanthemums will have you feeling fall before you know it.
Comments are closed.