Kicked to the curb? Mums are perennials you can hold onto

Signs of autumn are most apparent in colder climates, where fall foliage sets the landscape ablaze. But regardless of your location, chances are there’s one familiar seasonal sight each year: potted chrysanthemums perched on porches, hanging in baskets, temporarily planted into borders.

And soon, they get kicked to the curb with decaying jack-o’-lanterns.

Curious and frankly disturbed about the ritual carnage, I asked a few of my Long Island, New York, neighbors why they discard their mums. The universal response? They believed them to be annuals.

Garden chrysanthemums are actually perennials, hardy in horticultural zones 5-9. That means they can survive winter in roughly half of U.S. states. It’s true, the plants can’t withstand the deep freezes experienced in parts of New England and the northern and central portions of the Northwest and West. Nor can they handle the blazing summer heat in the southern half of Florida, south Texas,