Question about garden mums?

[shelleyd2008]

I bought two garden mum plants from walmart last year. I know these are perrenials, but how does that work? I didn't take seeds or anything, and now the area they were in is overrun (temporarily) by chickens. Do they regrow from the roots? Would the chickens have killed them?

 

[jackiedon]

Mine come up from the roots I guess but I keep the dead stalks there until spring. I did try to transplant some and they were doing really well but the chickens kept them eat up.

jackie

 

[patandchickens]

They will come back from the roots, if they come back at all. Which is by no means a foregone conclusion -- the common commercial varieties are not among the hardiest and by the time it's been from the grower to Walmart to final home it's typically suffered a *lot* of abuse, too.

If it *does* come up this spring, you may wish to give it a haircut once or twice, like early and early-midseason, to make a bushier better-branched plant with more flowers.

Good luck,

Pat