Where Can I buy the really big Chrysanthemums?

[greenthumbnails]

Does anyone know where I can buy the plant with the really big Chrysanthemum flowers?  I checked out 2 local nurserys and only found the small flowered plants and then checked Homedepot and Lowes for good measure.  I am trying to get a plant that has the flowers as big as the ones in the florist's arrangements. 

[Mikey]

I don't know where you live but I see them at my local nurseries here in SoCal.  Did you ask your nursery people why they don't carry them? 

It's too late in the season to order them now but next year you may wish to consider ordering from here: http://www.kingsmums.com/  I have some of their spider mums.  Love-um!

[greenthumbnails]

Mikey- Thanks for the weblink.  I really like the "irregular incurve".  How long have you had your spider mum?  They don't have any ordering info but in general how much would you say a plant costs there? 

[Mikey]

It's been some time since I obtained my plants but as I recall they didn't cost that much.  Mums are extremely easy to propagate from cuttings and in my growing zone they winter over without any special care.  http://www.kingsmums.com/growinf_info.htm   I've been careless the last few years in propagating them but what should be done is to take several cuttings each spring from the mother plant.  With appropriate pinching you then end up with a beautiful plant about this time each year.

I still have my yellow spider mums but they won't be very large this year because I neglected them (no pinching) and I didn't take cuttings, thus they will be on the same old tired rootstock instead of new vigorous rootstock......  I got lazy this year.........

[marla]

Wintering is one thing to look at, not all will winter over in such cold climates as I live in so sadly quite a few of the really cool ones I can not consider hardy hear, and I have to many things I take in now.  Boy I need a large greenhouse!!!!

[Mikey]

I just checked out Dave's Garden to see what the reviews were for Kings Mums from people who purchased from them and the reviews were positive. 

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/246/

I also stumbled onto this article about Kings Mums:  http://www.goldcountryhomes.com/home-garden/auburn-garden-club/auburn-garden-club-outing-takes-king-mums

[greenthumbnails]

Marla- I am in Florida so the winters should not be a problem here for Chrysanthemums (although I will probably never be able to grow tree peonies here for that reason, already tried).

Mikey-Thanks for the articles.  Looking forward to calling them and finding out about ordering for next year, although I really wish I had one NOW...I seem to get more impatient as I get older...

[Mikey]

I seem to get more impatient as I get older...

LOL  I know what you mean....  I now often find myself buying larger, more mature plants.  I figure that at age 58 I don't have the luxury of time as I did when I was younger.....  By spending more and buying more mature plants I'm buying time....   Who said you can't buy time?   A friend paid a lot of money for a large Saguaro cactus.  I cringed when I heard how much he had paid.  But as he put it, if he bought a smaller one for several hundred dollars he would be dead before it ever formed a branch...   He too was buying time....

[Joyce]

Our local grocery store had the big florist mums in a blaze color.
Tips of the petals were burnt orange to almost a rusty-brown,
and then blended to pumpkin orange and then to bright autumn yellow in the center.
I was sooooo tempted to get a couple!   

EDIT: The blooms were at least 3-4" wide.

[LeeAnne151]

Anyone can have big blooms, all you have to do is pinch off all the side buds and let only one bud bloom per stem.

This is how they do it for florists. It is labor intensive which is why "football" mums and spider mums cost more than spray mums/pom pons.

They disbud potted mums too. But, next year they will bloom small in sprays as the disbudding is what gives you the big flowers.

[Joyce]

The mums I am talking about are specifically called 'florist mums' and they are not hardy at all (Chrysanthemum grandiflorum).
All the other 'garden' mums are hardy.

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/all-about-mums/

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/newsrel/1999/sep99/sep9905.html

http://landscaping.about.com/od/landscapecolor/p/chrysanthemums.htm

[greenthumbnails]

Good articles Joyce, thanks for sharing.

[LeeAnne151]

Most florist mums are not garden hardy for sure. However, the disbudding technique works on both florist mums and hardy garden mums. I do have a florist mum in my garden that we received when my MIL passed away and it has lived four years without special treatment and is blooming now. Even in this zone though, most are not hardy.

There is no mum that produces huge flowers without disbudding. They are all naturally plants that bloom in sprays like floribunda roses. Some have bigger flowers than others.

Here is a disbudded down to single bloom per stem pot mum:

http://www.maygreenhouses.com/golden_gate.htm

Here is one that has been pinched but not disbudded, not the same variety but showing the natural bloom:

http://www.maygreenhouses.com/yellow_elmira.htm

Florist mums are usually given growth regulators as well as being disbudded and tied. Otherwise even with pinching they grow too big and lanky. They use a lights and shade cloth system on them as well to make them bloom as they are plants that bloom on a short day length cycle just like poinsettias.

I loved all the fall mums when I was a florist. This one in particular:

http://www.maygreenhouses.com/rose_delano.htm

and this one:

http://www.maygreenhouses.com/fall_delano.html

oh and this one:

http://www.maygreenhouses.com/pelee.html

which was my most popular seller.

I really should go buy myself one......

[greenthumbnails]

LeeAnne- That does sound very labor intensive...don't know if that is something I could keep up with...   But those sure are some nice potted specimens they sell at May Greenhouse.  I didn't know you could find the florist quality (disbudded and pinched) as potted plants for gifts like gift baskets.  Too bad they don't sell to the public, just "those in the trade". 

[LeeAnne151]

I sold almost all of their varieties when I was floral manager at a large supermarket. Do you have a Kroger near you? It is my understanding that they have huge nice floral departments. I just checked their ad and they have 'Fire Island' mums on sale right now but they aren't as disbudded as some are.