Well, hello gardening friends—today I’m out here messing around with my mums and sharing a few simple tips for keeping them going (and even growing them “forever”). I picked up a couple new ones from a local nursery for $11 and they were so nice, but I also brought home the ones I had sitting outside of work that started looking rough. The big thing I wanted to show is how I water them really well so the roots actually get a drink—because sometimes the water just rushes right out of the pot and the plant never really soaks it up. I’m also deadheading like crazy. Snip snip—getting all those spent blooms off helps the plant put energy into the buds that are still coming, and some of mine have tons of little babies ready to pop. And here’s the part people forget: even when your mums look basically dead at the end of the season, plant them anyway. I’ve done it, and they came back in the spring and kept coming back year after year. Give them a little love, get them in the ground to overwinter, and you might just get a surprise next season.