Homegrown Fall Mums: A Johnson’s Garden Center Tradition
Hello, again!
Stored for decades, I recently came across a pile of galvanized irrigation pipe that Orie bought to irrigate vegetable plants on his truck farm. The 20' long, 4" wide pipes supplied water to narrower supply lines connected to Rain Bird impulse sprinkler heads. I remember our Uncle Merle telling a story about getting a drink of water from the clogged sprinkler head, only to find out a dead mouse was causing the obstruction!
Dad used the irrigation system to grow hardy fall garden mums for the store's fall sales. Orie would propagate the mum cuttings in the winter for planting in the field in May. Our job was to care for the plants, cultivating and feeding the mums all summer long. We'd move the irrigation system barefoot, enjoying the cool mud during the hot summer.
In the fall, as the mums started blooming, we'd proudly show customers our homegrown plants to choose from, before digging them up and placing them in cardboard boxes from Teten's IGA grocery store. It was a great time to be at the garden center.
Today's homegrown mum crop is still grown with as much attention and care as the ones from our original field, with a few changes. The modern genetics of today's plants mean less pruning because of their compact growth habit. They are also all grown in containers. So customers no longer walk the field rows, picking out their favorites for the garden, porch, or patio.
Mum plants are sensitive to "photoperiodism", meaning they bloom in response to the day's length. As the duration of sunlight shortens with the season, it triggers the plants to bloom. Some plants react quicker, blooming earlier; while others react more slowly, blooming later. This is how mums are manipulated to bloom any time of the year growers desire. Our garden mums are not manipulated, meaning when you're shopping for mums at the store, what you see blooming will bloom around that same time every year.
With the first days of fall upon us, be sure to stop by the stores for even more seasonal offerings. Beyond mums, the displays are filled with Kansas-grown pumpkins and corn stalks for decorating, as well as fall celosia, ornamental cabbage and kale, and everything else you need to give your fall landscape, porch, or patio some seasonal charm.
Your friend in the garden,
Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Centers
