Our Own Heirloom Mums

Are you a part of the seed saving craze? Don’t worry, it’s a natural, fun and economical habit - probably a safer habit than many that plant lovers can fall prey to!

Heirloom mums seem to be a bit limited in our marketplace— with many growers scrambling for the same kinds of plants at plug sales in the fall and winter. But what if we (you and I or anyone who wanted to) could infuse something new into the marketplace?

We’ve been seeing all the buzz over dahlia and zinnia breeding. And we thought we’d see what we can do with a favorite fall plant. So we saved some mum flower heads and gave it a whirl!

We collected dried flower heads from a few plants in the greenhouse in November and stored them in a plastic bin. In December, I took the flower heads out and gently removed as much of the extra debris as I could using a sieve from the kitchen. I put the seeds into a small glass jar and kept them at room temp until a couple weeks ago. Mums don’t require vernalization, so you don’t need to chill them or give them a “winter” time.

I started the seeds in my favorite little row trays (they save space and resources) with a humidity dome. And then I waited and stared and waited. It didn’t take long for some of the remaining debris from seed collecting to get moldy. I removed the dome and the mold dissippated. I waited more. It felt like forever. In reality, I think the first little seedling popped up in about 8-10 days. And since then, I’ve seen more every day. I see about 10 new seedlings per day — we’re up over 60 now.

I won’t know how they look until we grow them out. They could all be really boring. Who knows! But now I feel like I’m on to something and now I can be more intentional about my selections and crosses in the fall when we’ll try again. These little plants will flower this fall, just like any other mums that are started from seedlings in the spring.