Gardeners: help please :)

[ellesan]

I do not have a green thumb. A few weeks ago I went to the store and bought mums because I heard they were easy to take care of. My husband set up the drip system and we thought it would be fine. They looked great when I bought and planted them. I dug all the holes, used planting soil, etc. Here's a picture of when I first planted them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sandrelle13/20090910Garden909?authkey=Gv1sRgCKat2e39vuLX6gE#5385500661899460866
Now most of them are turning brown, especially the purple ones and I can't tell if it's too much water, not enough, too much sun or what. The leaves on the plants are still green and healthy--just the flowers are turning brown, but not all of them. I see neighbors and their mums are still looking good, so I don't think it's seasonal (I was told these were good for fall planting). They are in full sun.

Advice please! Thanks!

 

[Shoegal]

If you planted while they were in full bloom like that - I'm thinking the blooms are now spent - this is probably not what you wanted to hear. Here are some options:

Are they hardy mums? If so, I'd leave them in the ground and allow them to die (you can cut back the dead) and then come next year they should all come back. They will bloom again in the fall and once they do it will last much longer. The only problem is based on your picture it seems as if you planted very very close together - mums will only get larger. Mums also start to grow (I don't know what zone you are in) but mime come back in early summer with foilage but no flowers. Unfortunately they will just look like leafy green plants up until fall.

Your other option is to pull them out and next year buy mums to plant that aren't blooming but have buds. This will give you more bloom time.

Rule of thumb though - don't buy plants that are flowering right now - you want them to bloom in your garden - not in the greenhouse.

Hope that was a little bit of help.

 

[forever39]

Mums also don't like water on their leaves or blooms. Be sure the water only gets to the roots, or the petals will deteriorate faster.

I agree, buy your flowers with the buds and let them bloom in your garden.