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Chrysanthemums bring color to any landscape during the fall season of change

9/28/2025

Fall is a good time for planting mums, kale and pansies. SKI Landscape will be installing 1,475 mums, 111 kale plants, and 630 pansies throughout 24 properties within the Indianapolis community.

Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China over 3,000 years ago and are one of the four noble plants (along with plum blossoms, orchids, and bamboo) which symbolize the change in seasons.
Mums first came to the United States in 1798 when Colonel John Stevens imported them from England.
The name chrysanthemum is derived from ancient Greek chrysos (gold) and anthemon (flower).
Chrysanthemums symbolize longevity and abundance in East Asia but represent friendship and happiness in the United States. The meaning of chrysanthemum can also vary by color, with red symbolizing love, white symbolizing purity, yellow indicating joy or rejected love, and violet signifying a wish to get well. In some cultures, such as Belgium and Austria, chrysanthemums are associated with grief and mourning.
Chrysanthemums contain Pyrethrin, a natural insecticide that repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, Japanese beetles, roaches, bed bugs, and spider mites.
Chrysanthemums attract various pollinators, including bees and butterflies.
While often used in traditional medicine, mums can be toxic to pets, especially dogs, cats and horses, if ingested.
A study by NASA found chrysanthemums to be highly effective at reducing indoor air pollution.
Mums are edible, though you must distinguish between the ornamental varieties and the culinary species. The most common edible parts are the flowers which can be added to salads, steamed or used to make tea. The dried flowers are believed to boost the immune system, relieve head congestion, and support digestion.
Advice for sustaining chrysanthemum life: you should deadhead chrysanthemums to encourage more blooms and to help the plant survive the winter, as it redirects energy from spent flowers to root development. Deadheading involves removing withered or faded flowers and the stem just above a leaf, which cleans up the plant and allows for a second round of blooming.

Chrysanthemums bring color to any landscape during the fall season of change

SKI Landscape Newsletter, September 2025

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