In spring I picked up a couple of cheap mum plants. One of them was ‘Matchsticks’:
I’m not sure what to think of this funny little plant. The flowers are a pretty color and they’re definitely interesting, but the spoon-like petals seem to get tangled up with one another and the flowers struggle to open fully. I noticed the first ‘Matchsticks’ flowers opening more than a week ago, but today they still look like a work in progress:
‘Matchsticks’ is a Minnesota mum that grows 16 to 24 inches tall. My plant is sturdy and has not needed any staking. I’ve seen conflicting information about this cultivar’s hardiness. Some sellers classify ‘Matchsticks’ as a Zone 5-9 plant and others a Zone 4-9 plant. I have a hard time believing a Minnesota mum would only be hardy to Zone 5. Most of that state is in hardiness Zone 3 or 4!
I’ll have more to say next year after ‘Matchsticks’ deals with winter in Wisconsin and spends another summer getting established in its new home.