Evergreen chysanthemums

This is the time of year when everyone purchases a pumpkin or two and pot of chrysanthemums to display on their front porch.  While I have nothing against this practice, I've always been disappointed with the potted mums.  Although the blooms are dense and pretty, they don't last long and the plant is soon withered and gone.

Several years ago, while shopping at Petals from the Past in Jemison, I noticed a fabulous display of mums growing right in the ground by their shop.   There were hundreds of blooms wrapping around the background shrubbery.  The plants available for purchase were a little expensive so I only bought three that year and three more the following year. 


I planted my six little mums around the base of my crepe myrtle tree.  My husband smiled sweetly and sent me to the store to purchase some "real" mums for our fall colors.

He doesn't send me to the store any more.  My six little mums have multiplied a hundred times over into a carpet of lovely fall blooms.  They bloom for about 3 weeks and the rest of the year provide a lovely evergreen ground cover to complement the crepe myrtle tree.  I wish I could tell you the exact variety but unfortunately the labeling stake is lost in the planting--its in there somewhere, but I can't find it.