Once you've repotted them, grouped them in a dramatic cluster, and got your watering schedule down, step back and take a photo. Then post it and watch your friends lose their minds. They will ask, "How did you do that?" You can shrug mysteriously and say, "It's just a little light deprivation and tough love."
The best part? This massive display will last until the first hard frost. That’s weeks of walking up to your front door and feeling like a celebrity on a flower-covered red carpet. You'll start making excuses to check the mail just so you can stare at them again.
So go ahead. Buy too many mums. Cram them into a ridiculous pot. Argue with the colors. Your neighbors will thank you, the bees will throw a rave, and your September will go from "ho-hum" to "hold the phone, that's gorgeous." And if you mess up? Well, you’ll have a funny story about that one time your front porch looked like a soggy cat. But trust me, you won't mess up.
