mums

Does anyone out there in the blogoshpere have any tips to give on planting mums. I have two mums to plant and two asters. Every year I buy mums and asters and every year PART of one or two come back. I've read that you shouldn't wait too long to get them in the ground and I'm probably already too late as it is, although until today, we were hitting 70s during the day and only mid-40s over night. I plant them in full to partial sun, throw some compost in the hole...What am I doing wrong? Why won't they come back? I don't get it. And they are the type that you can plant outside. I know sometimes grocery stores sell florist mums and they usually don't survive, but I know that these are hardy mums. What say you?

And while you're at it, what's a good companion plant(s) for mums? And when during the summer are you supposed to cut them back. Existing mums I have (that I obviously didn't plant, someone else did) I don't pinch back in the summer and they are huge in the fall and covered with blooms, so I'm not sure why experts tell you to pinch them back. Help.