Question
Hi,
I bought a couple of beautiful mum plants at my local mega store.I plan on keeping them in their pots.What do I do with them when the flowers start to die.Can I keep the plants for next year,and if so,how do I store them?I live in the Pocono Mountains and winters can be very cold.

Thanks,
Sharon

Answer
If you have a well insolated garage, or basement with windows, you have a good storage for your containers. If the garage is very cold, wrap the container with heavy insulation. The house, with heat, will be too warm. They are perennials, so they can take some cold. The problem with plants in containers, is they don't have the insulation that the ground provides, so the soil in the container freezes solid and the plant can't use the water and nutrients it needs over winter. If you have a place that will protect the container from freezing, and still provide some light for the plant, then they should winter over just fine.
Give them just enough water to keep them alive. Turn the pots every week to get the light on all sides. Check the plants often, for problems.
In the spring, repot the plants in fresh soil. Place them in a sunny spot outside, and water carefully. Prune them back to encourage new growth. In another month prune them again. This will produce the millions of small flowers instead of just a few large ones. The more you prune these plants, the more flowers they produce. They will bloom in the fall, so fertilize every month until they bloom, then stop fertilizing. Use a bloom fertilizer that has a high middle number.

I also bought a couple of these mums at the mega store, for one of my landscaping accounts. I plan to maintain them as well. They are very beautiful.