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How to Care for Florist's Plants

Many florist's plants can serve as long-lasting flower arrangments in the home and make excellent gifts.  What distinguishes florist's plants from other blooming indoor plants is their length of time in the home.  Florist's plants (like mums, poinsettias, and azaleas) are intended to be temporary indoor plants, whereas flowering houseplants (like African violets, orchids, or holiday cacti) are intended to remain in the home season after season.

Learn more about how to care for your florist's plants below.

Authors: 

I received a potted, flowering mum as a gift. How do I care for it?

Answer: 

In the home, place the mum in a brightly lit, cool location.  An ideal site is one near a window that receives bright light (but no direct sunlight) and temperatures of 60 to 70°F. 

mum  Photo by Hanna Tor Adobe PhotoStockCheck soil moisture frequently.  When the soil surface becomes dry to the touch, water the plant until water begins to flow out the bottom of the pot.  The pots of most potted mums are placed inside decorative pot covers.  When watering the plant, carefully remove the pot covering, water the plant in the sink, then drop the mum back into the pot cover. 

Compost plants when flowering has finished.  The varieties of mum sold as flowering potted plants at the florist are not winter hardy in Iowa and cannot be successfully planted outdoors.  

Fall Mums

News Article

Garden mums offer gardeners a wide range of colors and flower forms when other annuals and perennials are past their peak.  Learn more about maintenance and wintering ability of fall-planted mums in in the Iowa State University Extension & Outreach Yard and Garden news release from September 12, 2108.

How should I prepare mums for winter?

Answer: 

Chrysanthemums are shallow-rooted plants.  Repeated freezing and thawing of the soil during the winter months can heave plants out of the ground and cause severe damage or even death.  Gardeners can increase the odds of their mums surviving the winter by applying a mulch in fall.  Mulching helps eliminate the alternate freezing-thawing cycles that can heave plants out of the soil.  Apply the mulch in late fall, typically late November in central Iowa.  Do not cut back the plants prior to mulching.  Simply cover the plants with several inches of mulch.  Suitable mulching materials include clean (weed-free) straw, pine needles, and evergreen branches.  Leaves are not a good mulch as they tend to mat down and don’t provide adequate protection.  The mulch should remain in place until early to mid-April.