A guide to choosing mums for the fall garden – beyond the classic cushion

September heralds the shift from summer to fall gardening, a time when many gardeners shift their focus to chrysanthemums, or mums. While most mums sold at garden centers are the familiar "cushion" variety, gardeners looking to diversify their options have a wealth of other options to consider. Chrysanthemums belong to a large plant family with around 40 wild species, from which hundreds of thousands of varieties and cultivars have been bred.

Exhibition-judging categories, based on flower shape, have been established by the National Chrysanthemum Society. However, many of these are too delicate for outdoor growth or require specialized care, making them unavailable to home gardeners. Perennial cushion mums, with their compact mounding plants and small double flowers in various colors, are a popular choice for home gardens. Blooming from late summer to early fall, these plants can survive winters in zones 5-9 and continue blooming for four to six weeks.

Other types of mums, such as daisy, spray, Fuji, spider, and homecoming mums, offer a range of unique blooms and sizes. Daisy mums resemble daisies with flat central "eyes" and individual petals, while spray mums have stems branching at their ends to hold multiple flowers. Fuji and spider mums, with their elongated, tube-like petals, are less common but can be found at specialty nurseries or catalogs.

Homecoming mums, known for their large, showy flowers and inward-curving petals, are often used as corsages at college events but can be grown as perennials in suitable zones.