A Warning on Mums -- and a better choice!
I was recently at a grocery store that was selling mums labeled as hardy mums. This is simply not correct. True hardy mums are no longer being sold at local garden centers and certainly not at grocery stores and mass merchants. These are supposed to be sold as garden mums which will give you a couple of weeks of color and probably not come up next spring -- especially without special protection. Early planting of mums will bloom out very quickly in this heat -- later plantings in fall can bloom a little longer -- up to a few weeks.
If all of the mums sold in fall were truly hardy, we would be overrun with mums. The fact is very few of the mums sold today will overwinter and fewer yet live more than a year or two.
A better choice for fall color is our organically grown ornamental kale which can decorate your home for months and then be eaten or used for garnishing throughout the holiday season. Be careful about eating any ornamental kale that was not organically grown since pesticides used in production are sometimes not for use on food crops. We still have starter size plants which can give you a lot of color (and food) for less money spent.I don't know about you, but something pretty I can eat throughout the winter? Swoon. How beautiful is that kale! I'll have to run there & pick up my kale to plant for the fall & winter season. I also know I'll get lots of tips from the guy that runs it-he's extremely helpful every time I go.
