Spring Mum Propagating and care

 

Spring time is the perfect time to propagate your mums.  Mums are a favorite for most people during the fall, but for fuller and more abundant mums, they need to be multiplied during the springs.  They are very easy to grow and have a very low cost. Due to their low cost many will use them to accent their home during the fall and throw them away after one season.  I hate seeing this.  They will come back every year and only need a little pruning each year.  If you have established mums from last year, all you need to do is to start trimming back the brown stalks that were left behind from the previous season once the first green, new growth has made it's presence known during spring.This will create a well rounded, thicker mum form last years plant.

I finally found the hard to find red mum in my area.  It was very tiny with only two tall stalks sticking up out of the ground.  I was hoping to find at least three of these little red flowers, but of course I am not that lucky.  I did find a cute little white one that had a very tall stalk. So I set off with my plan to propagate them for this fall.

Since I could not get the amount I wanted, I had to create them.  I took the tall white one first since I wanted it in the middle of the red.  I cut the white mum stalk  in half to make them about the same height.  I planted the original mum and roots in the center of the pot I had picked out for this use.  The cutting was around five inches.  I placed one inch of the cutting into the soil beside the original plant with roots. 

Then I gently pulled the two stalks of red mums apart that had grown in the same container.  I planted them and their roots on either side of the white mums in the center.  I grabbed my garden shears and cut each stalk in half giving me two more red stalks of around five inches each.  I placed these in the front and back of the white mums completely surrounding the white with the deep red. 

The first four days you should mist the cut mums with water to keep from drying our.  After the four days, water daily and fertilize once a week.  This will thicken scarce mums you find or will help you make multiple pots for the fall if done in the spring.  They are very easy to root and will give you great reward.  Anyone else out their getting their mums ready for springs?  Any want to do a mum swap this spring?  I have not tried this before, but they should travel well as cuttings or with roots if kept moist.

The trip to those perfect rounded pots of mums you see in photos is trimming.  As your mum grows, trim the few places that get a little out of control before the blooming begins.  This will give you the perfect mushroom shape fall mums.  Think of mums as a child needing a hair cut every once and a while and you will be on you way to a fun fall!

Wild Berries and Honeysuckle

 A walk around the pond on a windy afternoon filled the air full of the sweet smell of honeysuckle.  A few of the trees are covered in their little blooms.  They grow wild all around the boarders of the wood line.  They grow into a thick cover on the ground for rabbits and make a tasty treat for deer.  Our deer have not returned this summer.  No signs of them any where.  For the past seven years there has been a female that would have a set of twins every Fall.  Hopefully this Fall she will be back with her little ones for a visit.

The frogs are out in full force annoying our little dog.  They have little tadpoles swimming around the edge of the pond.  We have only seen two turtles that made the pond their home last year after being newly hatched.  We also found a king snake hiding under one of the large rocks.  His skin finally shed and he made his way into the water just in time for dinner.

 A few bees were spotted along with multiple birds.  I have not seen a hummingbird at the pond this year, but we have plenty around our flowers and home.  Last week the baby birds from our little bird hotel made their first flights to the near by trees covered in honeysuckle.

I also captured a very blurry picture of a few wild berries just starting to grow.  One area on our walking trial is covered with these little guys.  It is also home to a huge rabbit with a fluffy white tail.  All the other rabbits have brown tails, so this fat little rabbit is easy to identify as he runs around the yard and through the trees.  Maybe this week I will finally decide on a new camera so I can capture the animals in better photos.

The Dark Side of Spring

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon since I was tired of sitting around feeling awful. I thought maybe a little moving around would help. It cheered me up at the time and my nose actually stopped running. This morning is a different story. My nose is failing me and feels like it is twice the size it should be and is so dry it could fall off at any time. I think it is highly unliky anyone would want to see a picture of my nose, but I did capture a few good ones in my brother's yard. No, not of my stuffy head but of a very pretty tall bearded Iris.

The colors are very bright white with a deep purple bottom. He has a lot of these in his yard. More than a dozen that are grouped together are all in the same growth stage and should all start to open blooms by this weekend. He ha also had a tiny, but very cute azalea with a really bright reddish orange color.

I love this one!

Hopefully the darker side of spring will leave my nose alone soon. The air is not yellow with pollen swirling around like a dust cloud. My truck is still yellow even with the rain from last night. I think today will be a day of loads of reading and rest. I think rest is much need and way over due. Plus the clouds have set in, so maybe today will be the last day of allergies for me for a while. What is your favorite rainy day or sick day activity?