Hi everyone! I'm very new to gardening, and I have two questions. At the local nursery I purchased a white mum plant to transplant, and I did so yesterday. (I just bought it for looks, not even knowing what it was.) At first it was very nice looking, but now the poor baby is drooping to the ground. It's sort of a small plant. Should I expect it to perk back up? My second question is about a guara bee blossom. I haven't transplanted it yet because the flowers and leaves are wilted. The only two stems are about a foot high. It was that way when I purchased it. Do y'all think it also might be revived? Any help will be appreciated.
Karen, I think what you have are two plants that are in shock from being ignored at the nursery. Mums should do just fine out there, at least back in the 60's Lubbock had the nickname of the Chrysanthemum capital of the world because they grew so well and all over the place. With the mum, as soon as the flowers die off, cut it back to about 4 inches tall, keep it watered and it will grow and bloom again this fall. By the way, did you check to see if it was root bound when you took it out of the nursery pot? That could be part of the problem, they stay in one size pot too long at the nursery and the roots wrap round and round themselves and can eventually strangle the plant. You could gently dig it back up to check, if it is then take your fingers or a sharp knife and tear or cut thru the outside roots, then replant it. The guara could be root bound too since it already has flower stems on it, it has probably been in that pot a long time. Check it and plant it, if it is root bound it won't get any better still in the pot. I bought one last fall that was looking pretty tired, this year it is huge. Good Luck with them and be sure to take pictures, we love pictures.
Thanks Toni - That sounds just like my plants! I'm gonna go out right now before the sun sets to replant the mums and plant the poor bee blossom.
