Which is Best for Your Garden

I at all times encourage gardeners to experiment with extra crops, not fewer. It’s possible you’ll determine mums or marigolds are greatest, otherwise you’ll select each of them! Why not, proper? 

There are a couple of explanation why you’d need one over the opposite. Maybe you’re planting a fall backyard and have early frosts, otherwise you lack ice and snow throughout winter. Your backyard’s situations dictate which crops work greatest. 

Moreover, what you suppose is gorgeous might differ from what the following gardener thinks! Marigolds and mums have a number of varieties to select from, and every kind has totally different flower colours, shapes, sizes, and fragrances.

So, the query stays—are mums or marigolds greatest to your backyard?

Which Ought to You Plant?

Each backyard is totally different from the following, and what’s proper for yours differs from what’s greatest to your neighbor or buddy. Whether or not to decide on marigolds or mums relies on the local weather, the present season, your rising targets, and the availability of the 2 crops. 

Your Local weather

The climate dictates all the things! Rain, sunshine, chilly, and warmth create varied situations that favor sure crops over others. Mums just like the chilly, whereas marigolds like the warmth. 

Growers in northern climates have brief rising seasons. They could have to develop marigolds from seeds to have prepared seedlings. Some marigold varieties are perennial, although most are long-lived annuals in frost-free areas. They’ll bloom for longer intervals in gardens with lengthy summers than wherever else. 

Marigold crops are additionally environment friendly reseeders. They produce dozens of viable seeds that you could be save over winter for planting in spring. 

In hotter climates, nonetheless, chrysanthemums wrestle to bloom. Their perennial nature permits them to develop nicely by cool autumns and is derived. They typically thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5 by 9, and so they work nicely as winter annuals in heat areas. 

The Present Season

It additionally relies on the present season! Spring is a superb time to consider planting each marigolds and mums. Marigold flowers will start blooming shortly after planting in summer time, whereas mums flower within the fall. Mums want a number of time to ascertain themselves earlier than frosty climate arrives.

Most hardy mum crops can be found within the fall when it’s too late for planting. These container specimens are excellent for porch stoops and balconies, although they’re not nice for planting. Hardy perennial mums want not less than two months of rising earlier than the primary common frost date. 

Marigolds wrestle in autumn; they like summer time’s warmth and sunshine. With heat and light, marigold flowers will proceed showing so long as you deadhead them. They’ll fill the yard with brilliant blooms and fragrant foliage. 

In abstract, it’s greatest to develop marigold crops in the summertime and chrysanthemums in autumn. It’s possible you’ll develop each in northern states, as long as you begin marigold seeds forward of time for transplanting after the final frost date. 

Your Rising Objectives

When interested by marigolds vs. mums, possibly you like one over the opposite! Which to decide on is completely as much as you. Marigolds are nice for veggie plots, as they deter pests and appeal to pollinators. Their brilliant pink, orange, yellow, and white hues fill the backyard with coloration and perfume.

Marigold crops are additionally very good for minimize flower bouquets and floral preparations. They rebloom if you deadhead them, and bushy varieties have a tendency to supply dozens of blossoms all through the rising season. You possibly can pinch them to make them bushy, or allow them to flourish into gangly specimens.

Chrysanthemums have a variety of habits, too. Florist’s mums develop gigantic mum blooms on tall stalks, and so they’re showstoppers in flower gardens. These have a tendency to not be as hardy as perennial sorts, although, and so they usually require overwintering indoors. 

In the event you’re searching for fall flowers, chrysanthemums are the selection for you. They erupt into bloom when leaves change colours, offering fall coloration on the bottom whereas timber fill the sky with wealthy hues. Their divided inexperienced leaves supply a impartial background for different perennials throughout the spring and summer time. 

Fashionable Varieties

Plant breeders are constantly producing new marigold and mum varieties annually. Discover hybrids with multi-color blooms, dwarf habits, and beautiful hues. Mum flowers are likely to have muted colours that look good within the fall, whereas marigold flowers are cheery and brilliant for the summer time yard.

My favourite marigold is ‘Naughty Marietta.’ It’s a French selection that has yellow and pink petals with orange facilities. The mid-sized flowers appeal to butterflies and repel soil nematodes, making the plant excellent for rising close to tomatoes and peppers.

French varieties are typically mid-sized, whereas African ones are massive, and signet sorts are small. The bloom sizes replicate the rising habits, as African blooms are big, whereas French and signet sorts are on the smaller facet.

Mums equally have a wealth of types to select from. Go for hardy, perennial specimens that’ll survive your area’s winters. Select a mum based mostly on its flower form and coloration. There are double and single-petalled sorts, and distinctive ones like spider varieties! Strive ‘Fleur de Lis.’ It has pink, frilly blooms that appear like spiders. 

Key Takeaways