See some beauties at flower show

A lot happens to chrysanthemums to become such beauties this time of year. In the spring, we uproot the old plants and plant their offspring. During the summer, we snap off the starts' heads to thicken up the plants. As weather cools, we pamper and admire them and, if chosen, we crown them queens of the show.

You can see these queens on display at the Las Vegas Chrysanthemum Society's annual flower show. It is next weekend at the Garden Club center, in the northwest corner of Lorenzi Park at 3333 W. Washington Ave. This year's theme is "Chrysanthemum Elegance."

The show is free, and it will be worth your time seeing mums beyond imagination and description. It's from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 28.

Bring your out-of-town guests and family for something different to do this Thanksgiving weekend. For more information, call 459-4633.

If you love mums -- and just about everyone does -- you'll want to take pictures of those you love and record the names. This way, you'll know what to purchase for your garden at next May's mum sale. This is the only place you'll be able to get these oddities locally.

I recall going into Ruth Ann Waite's greenhouse and seeing mums beyond description. Some mums were the size of buttons, while others were large, decorative, daisy, spider, pompom or had spoon-tipped blooms. Each type came in a full range of colors from white and yellow, to bronze-red, pink and purple.

The society will have a limited number of gallon-size show mums for sale at this year' show. They'll be in bloom and continue blooming until it freezes. With last year's warm fall, the spectacular blooms lasted much longer.

After blooms fade or freeze down, cut the plants back about a third and plant them in the ground or place them in pots in a protected area and they'll bloom next year. When cutting plants back next spring, if there's still new growth at the plant's base, cut it back to that point.

If you have mums coming into bloom now, thin out the buds so remaining blooms will enlarge.

Mums are much like tulips. The more crowded they get, the more disappointing their blooms become in coming years and eventually peter out. To overcome this, next spring, as soon as you see new growth emerge, fertilize them to jump-start them.

Spring is the time to dig and divide mums. You'll be surprised with how many new starts you get from one plant. To do this, dig up your plants and remove the new starts with a good root system and plant them. Discard the old center growth.

You also can start new plants by tip cutting, but the easiest way to get new plants is buying them at May's mum sale.

You must pinch mums to keep the plants compact and covered with blooms next fall. Make the first pinch after three to four pairs of leaves form, or when stems get five to six inches tall. Pinch each shoot with your thumbnail and finger to stimulate more shoots from below the removed buds. It's work, but rewards are gratifying next fall. Pinch plants frequently until Labor Day.

If you fail to pinch, the plants become leggy and bloom weight causes them to topple, leaving ugly gaps in your flower display. If gapping happens, stake them.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.