now that's a mum: exhibition mums

one of my best gardening recollections from my childhood in Australia is of a man in our neighborhood who sent these types of large mums approx 8" wide to the Chelsea Flower Show in England and won ribbons. i can't imagine the logistics of such a trip never mind customs. in this country, i have seen them referred to as football mums. my favorite are the spider mums pictured at right.

with memories of that gentlemen's efforts, i tried growing these type of mums in ks. my experience was the spiders needed a longer growing season to pull off a specimen bloom. but i did win a best mum in show at a local show. i still have the trophy.

i know nearly all of you are more than content with our mums, but take a cool trip to the vendor i used at www.kingsmum.com