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sandy02256

igloo mums more hardy??or hype??

sandy0225
12 years ago

I just purchased several igloo mums at another greenhouse in Indianapolis after looking for someone local where I could pick up a few to try, and I'm planning on growing them at my greenhouse next year for sale based on what I've read on the internet. But it seems most of what I've read and finding on the net is marketing materials. I've not really found any "end user" data out there on the 'net, other than one review some garden writer put out but it seemed like she had just planted them when she wrote it and there's no follow up that I found.

Does anyone have amy first-hand experience with these mums/dendrathema species? Did you plant them in the fall and did they come back reliably like they say?

I'm going to be planting 4-6 of them to trial them here in z5 Muncie,IN but I just wondered...

Comments (22)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    12 years ago

    I'm planning on growing them at my greenhouse next year for sale based on what I've read on the internet

    ===>>>>
    they are patented...

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I already knew they were patented, being a licensed greenhouse, I deal with that a lot. I didn't say I was propagating my own...I'm reselling the ones I picked up and planting a few for my trials here. I just wondered if anyone had any experiences--good or bad--with these coming back or not.

  • wieslaw59
    12 years ago

    I do not know those particular ones, but my general experience is that it is hype. I live in Demmark and none of the American varieties which were declaired as hardy are very hardy here. This last winter one or two survived, but so weakened that they did not grow at all.

  • coolplantsguy
    12 years ago

    I'm a fan of the Mammoth Mums (orginally My Favourite) that were bred at the University of Minnesota. I had the red-flowered form survive for many years easily.

    One of the keys for any "hardy" mum I recall is to plant them in late May or early June for good establishment.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    12 years ago

    the last thing i would have presumed.. based on the thousands of peeps on GW .. was that you were in the profession .. i did not intend to insult you with the warning ...

    all the power to ya ....

    good luck

    ken

  • aachenelf z5 Mpls
    12 years ago

    I agree with coolplantsguy about when to plant. I had given up on mums entirely until a few years ago and then purchased a few rooted cuttings from a MN grower in late spring. By fall I had decent sized plants. By the next year, I had more than I could handle. They multiplied so well and continue to do so.

    My Mammoth Red Daisey (a new one this year) is just starting to bloom. It's pretty cute.

    Kevin

  • whaas_5a
    12 years ago

    Plant a mum in fall and its guaranteed to croak.

    I planted so many zone 4 hardy mums in fall (thats when they seem to make there way out to the sale area) and they kept dying!

    Finally someone told me to plant in spring...sure enough those buggers came back.

    "Most" mums tend to struggle in clay soils. They demand well drained soil...although some fair ok in clay (like Sheffield).

  • wieslaw59
    12 years ago

    @ whaas, it applies to many plants blooming in late autumn, not only chrysanthemums, that they survive better when planted in the spring. You can extend it to Aster amellus, Aster frikartii and others.

  • jerseygirl07603 z6NJ
    12 years ago

    I've had Rosy Igloo mum for a few years and it's a great plant! I'm in a warmer zone than you so can't attest to it's hardiness. Planted in Spring. It's grown into a huge round mass of many blooms, with no pinching. I'm not crazy about the color - it's too red for my taste - if I could find a yellow I'd be a happpy camper.

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The igloo does come in yellow now. They call it sunny igloo, also in purple, cool igloo. white=frosty igloo.
    I have a few of the yellow here that I'm getting ready to plant out. z6 is a little warmer than here and you planted in the spring. Maybe I should get in my igloo's for spring planting. Maybe I can get some customers to look ahead that far to fall, mums are kind of a hard sell in spring... Thanks for the input everyone....

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    update, ALL of the igloo mums we planted came back! At my house, at mom's and my sisters, and the ones we sold to customers came back from the ones that have told me so far.
    Also another cool thing, they look like when we planted them last year, nice and rounded and not too tall, not all rangy looking like traditional mums if they even come back at all. I think it's a home run.

  • rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
    11 years ago

    wieslaw59 wrote:

    I do not know those particular ones, but my general experience is that it is hype. I live in Demmark and none of the American varieties which were declaired as hardy are very hardy here.

    If at all available please try the Canadian developed hardy mums. For example these shown in this link are hardy to zone 3.

    Here is a link that might be useful: VERY hardy mums

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    here's a picture of one of the ones that came back, taken at my house.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:268566}}

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    whoops, I did that wrong, let me try again

    Here is a link that might be useful: igloo mum one year after planting at my house

  • sandy0225
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    third time's the charm! i hope :)

    Here is a link that might be useful: igloo mum picture at the house

  • wieslaw59
    11 years ago

    Rouge, thank you for the information. I have never seen them here in Europe. It may take years before they come here, if at all.

    The potted ones they sell in stores are ALWAYS nameless for some reason, impossible to know what they are.

  • Martha Rohrbacher
    8 years ago

    I was given two thumb size plants several years ago and planted them in June in north central Minnesota. They thrived and got huge. This winter, however, we had very little snow so I lost about 75% of the plant. I get many compliments on them - they are gorgeous.

  • whaas_5a
    8 years ago

    My Mammoth mums have since gotten quite large. Problem is that they flop like crazy once in bloom when it rains and it thins out in the middle so it needs dividing. This is just a mum issue in general IMO.

    Obviously hardy enough after its established. Coldest winter in 30 years 2 seasons ago and 6th coldest Feb on record this year with very little snow cover.

    I ended up removing most of my mums and only have one Mammoth mum remaining as it doesn't have any tree or shrub roots I have to worry about with all the dividing/thinning it requires.

    Its pretty grand looking when its not flopping though. Neighbourhood women swoon over it.

  • rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
    8 years ago

    My Mammoth mums have since gotten quite large. Problem is that they flop like crazy once in bloom when it rains

    I jumped on the MM bandwagon and had great success with "Dark Pink Daisy". It was so floriferous in its first year last season. But as you have noted, I experienced similarly i.e. a complete flop while in full bloom last Fall.

    It easily survived this past harsh winter and it has been so vigorous this season. AND I have regularly pruned it all over thereby hoping to lessen the likelihood of another flop. I am actually debating right now whether to trim some more this week....getting a bit long into the summer...dont want to delay too long those amazzing flowers!

  • Sharon Taylor
    6 years ago

    I have been looking for a Canadian source for either Igloo or Morden mums for my Canadian gardens but cannot find a source in Canada. Any ideas? Strange since I believe they were both developed up here!



  • HU-592299405
    3 years ago

    Hi Sharon Jefferies nurseries in portage la prairie has Morden mums available in their catalog.