OU Landscaping Services invites members of the community to pick up free mums across campus today."Each year, we plan for the mums to be at their peak during homecoming," said Julie Cohen, director of landscaping and grounds. "Shortly after homecoming, their colors begin to fade as the flowers die back. Rather than throw the mums away, we have a tradition of digging them up and leaving them out on top of the flowers beds for a week so that others may come take them for planting elsewhere." Allen King, assistant director of landscaping and grounds, said the free mums will be ready for pickup today and any remaining mums will be cleaned up and composted the Monday after Thanksgiving."The response to this in the past has been overwhelming," King said. "People start calling while the mums are still in bloom, asking when we will pull them."Many people from the community, faculty and staff, public schools, and shelters come to get the mums, King said. Very few mums are left the following week.The tradition of giving the mums away has been going on for at least the past 15 years, King said.The mum giveaway is made possible with money from private donors. Endowments allow the mums to be replaced on a yearly basis, Cohen said."The three largest mum gardens--the Pitman Garden on the South Oval, the [Peggy V.] Helmerich Garden east of Bizzell [Memorial] Library and the [Harold G.] Powell Garden at the entrance to the North Oval--were all endowed by private donors with the intent that we would change the design of the mum beds each fall," Cohen said.More than 30,000 red, white and yellow mums grace OU's campus. The mums will be dug up from the Pitman Garden and the Helmerich Garden, Cohen said."Anyone who needs help determining colors or has questions regarding how to care for the mums can look for our gardeners on the South Oval on Monday morning, and they will be more than happy to help," Cohen said.The chrysanthemums are perennial flowers that will reoccur or "come back" each year for at least three years, King said."The flowers can be saved two ways," King said. "They can be stored in a cool, dry area until they can be planted early next spring when the ground is not frozen. The other method is to immediately plant and give them a good watering. Check them periodically throughout the winter to see if they need additional watering."King also recommends the mums be kept moist and be planted at the same depth as they were planted before. A balanced fertilizer such as a 10-10-10 granular is also recommended in the spring and again in six weeks. King said the mums should not be planted next to any permanent outside lighting because they need 11 to 12 hours of complete darkness at night to bloom.After the mums are dug up today, most of the beds will remain empty over the winter. Flowers for spring will be planted in March, Cohen said."We are still not certain what type of annual we will plant this spring, but one thing is certain: It will be red," Cohen said.hello there & you too
