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By Amy Bigej, Al’s Director of Education
 I can’t keep quiet. Fall
is just about my favorite time of year! The sizzling heat of August
gives way to the cooler weather of September. My husband begins to
plot and plan the hosting of many football games. My friends and
neighbors start to overflow with the excitement of planting
spring-blooming bulbs and adding perennials to the landscape. We all
know it’s the time to get a head start for next year. At the
same time, we regret the steady fading of color to the gray yet to
come. That’s when I am thankful for garden mums and their one
last splash of color before winter.
 The
summer foliage of mums is bright-green and attractive, but grows
unobtrusively, letting other summer flowers take center stage. Then,
as the summer gives way to autumn’s ever-shorter days, buds pop open
in gorgeous, bright hues. From summer transition colors such as pinks
and purples to autumn trends like reds, yellows and bronze, there are just
so many colors to choose from. Besides a variety of
colors, you will find mums with interesting flower forms. The three
most commonly found are the decorative double flowers, daisy mums and
spoon flowers. All of these flower forms, as well as some other
unique varieties, will be available at Al’s this fall in an  array of
colors. Few other cold-weather bloomers will give us the kind of
color show in September and October that garden mums do. Even the
word, mum, is warm and comforting, reminding me of a proper British
mother.
Join me this season in embracing this beautiful fall flower. They are
hard to resist and for good reason!
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