Plant Sheffield Pink Mum for Repeat Fall Performance
Instead of purchasing and planting mums every fall, try this reliably perennial variety.
Sheffield Pink mum is a classic cultivar and many a gardener's go-to for a hardy mum that comes back year after year. Its warm pink flowers attract late-season bees and blend beautifully with other fall favorites like asters and goldenrods.
Common name: 'Sheffield Pink' mum, 'Hillside Sheffield Pink' mum
Botanical name: Chrysanthemum 'Hillside Sheffield Pink'
Flowers: Daisy-like flowers open in a warm apricot pink in early autumn. Bloom continues up to the frost. The long-lasting flowers fade to pale pink with time.
Foliage: Dark green in color, with rounded lobes as typical of a mum.
Size and habit: Rounded, reaching two to three feet tall and wide
Growing Sheffield Pink mum
Exposure: Full sun
How to grow it: Site this mum in full sun and well-drained, fertile soil for the best growth and flowering. Provide regular moisture throughout the growing season. Pinching the stems back from late spring until midsummer will create bushy growth and maximize the number of flowers, which occur and the tip of each branch. Sheffield Pink is considered a reliable mum in terms of reappearing and thriving year after year. If its performance declines, try dividing it in spring. USDA Zones 5–9.
Image credit: F.D. Richards/CC BY-SA 2.0