Unique Garden Mums and Alternatives for a Spectacular Fall Finale in 2021
January 13, 2021 Despite their perennial nature, garden mums have become a popular seasonal decoration in the fall alongside cornstalks and pumpkins, and market demand for them remains strong. Best of all, there are lots of possibilities to choose from, whether it’s the traditional oranges, pinks, and yellows, or tri-colored novelties and multi-shade varieties.
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Pleasing the Grower and the Consumer
Mum breeding at Syngenta Flowers continues to focus on developing varieties for all parts of the supply chain.
“We want varieties that are easy to grow and do not require a lot of hand labor, and with enough vigor to fill the pot, but not so much that extra plant growth regulators will need to be applied,” says Mark Smith, Mum Technical Lead for Syngenta Flowers. “We also want varieties that hold up for the consumer. Mums are not a product like spring bedding plants that will grow and continue to flower for months, but the consumer should expect more than just a couple weeks of flowering enjoyment.”
One of Smith’s favorite fall combos is Beverly Bright Penny, which includes ‘Beverly Gold’, ‘Beverly Orange’, and ‘Beverly Dark Bronze’.
“The Beverly family is easy to size up, so it’s great for big pots where multi-cuttings are often used,” Smith says. “Flowering response is mid-September so at the peak of retail sales. And can even work for the start of landscape installations.
All In the Family
Cindy Drumgool, Business Manager of Mums at Ball Mums, part of Ball Seed, will have some new introductions of families in 2022. For now, Ball Mums has started looking at more unique bicolors. One of these is ‘Fire Halo Orange’, a mid-season bicolor for novelty programs with vivid orange color, a mounded habit, and good heat tolerance.
Of the 11 mum introductions from Ball Mums for 2021, ‘Cracklin’ Red and Yellow’ is another standout with longevity. During Chicago field trials, this variety exhibited good holding power, proving saleable for six to seven weeks, according to John Kennedy, Sales Director for Ball Seed North America. This yellow variety with red buds has little to no heat delay, and cooler weather brings out its reddish overtones.
Tough Enough to Take the Cold
Aris Horticulture has taken a different approach to mums, focusing on the garden and not how a mum looks just on the porch. The Dendranthemum Igloo Series is the result of crossing the popular traditional garden mum with the hardy Sheffield-type perennial mum.
Igloo mums can be produced just like traditional garden mums, right alongside them on the same pot, fertilizer, media, and spray programs, according to Aris. The finished product looks just like a garden mum.
One interesting trait of the Igloo mums is they flower in the spring and then again in the fall once they are established in the garden, a nice trait in a perennial plant if you can get it. The new ‘Brilliant Igloo’ is Aris Horticulture’s best yellow hardy mum to date. ‘Autumn Spice Igloo’ is a true fall bronze for the garden. Variety specialists at Aris say retailers can charge more for Igloos if they differentiate them from their garden mums.
Something New to Try
While we’re on the topic of alternatives to the traditional garden mum, consider the Grandaisy Series from Suntory Flowers, an intergeneric cross between Argyranthemum and Ismelia, a tricolor daisy mum native to Africa.
“Grandaisy has been positioned as a showy springtime plant for outdoor use, but I feel it has potential for fall,” says Delilah Onofrey, Marketing Manager in North America for Suntory Flowers. “We’d just need to align the supply at the farms to support a fall season. I would like to see traditional indoor mum growers conduct production trials to assess the potential as a florist-grade mum followed by indoor postharvest trials.”
If growers take Onofrey up on her wish to apply the traditional, 52-week mum forcing mentality to Grandaisy versus standard bedding plant production, a whole new offering at the supermarkets might be the result, she says.
Bracteantha ‘Granvia Gold’ is another promising fall product from Suntory that several growers have trialed with great success, according to Onofrey. This supersized bright yellow strawflower has orange centers and can be grown for spring and fall.
2020 Sales Season Strong Despite the Pandemic
Growers experienced strong mum sales in 2020 with early season sell-outs, even before the plants cracked color. Hopefully, that trend will continue in 2021, and you’ll be able to try some of the great new mum varieties available to you.
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