How to Plant Chrysanthemum Seeds

Many chrysanthemums — commonly known as mums — produce round puffy blooms, the botanical version of an Afro hairstyle. They grow up to 3 feet and hold their color — yellow, white, red, bronze, pink, lavender — until the plants die back under frost. If you harvest chrysanthemum seeds after the blooms fade in the fall, save them for when the ground is warm again. But keep in mind these seeds don’t grow true to type. You’ll end up with a chrysanthemum that’s a brand-new cultivar.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Thermometer
• Pickaxe
• Shovel
• Manure
• 10-10-10 fertilizer
• Rake
• Hoe
• Chrysanthemum seeds
• Soaker hose

1. Get ready to plant your chrysanthemum seeds in late spring. Select a site that’s under the sun all day and till the soil to a depth of 6 inches. Incorporate 2 inches of manure into the ground. In addition, apply 5 pounds of a 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet of flowerbed. Rake the soil surface to form a smooth bed.

2. Make furrows for chrysanthemum’s seeds that are twice as deep as the seeds are wide.

3. Sow the seeds and cover them with a thin layer of soil.

4. Install a soaker hose next to the furrows and irrigate the seedbed to moisten the top 2 inches of soil. Maintain the seeds hydrated in this manner for germination within two weeks. Water chrysanthemum plants when the ground surface is dry. At that time, irrigate the flowerbed to a depth of 6 inches.

5. Thin the seedlings to one per 18 inches. Mums bloom midsummer to fall.