For Auburn gardener Carol Wescoatt, there’s always room for more chrysanthemums.

Wescoatt, a longtime member of Donner Garden Club, adds new ones every year. She now cultivates more than 100 varieties.

“Auburn is ideal for chrysanthemums,” she said recently. “They do really well because of heat in summer and we don’t have severe cold, so they can survive winter. They die back in winter, come back in the spring and bloom in October.”

From now through December is peak bloom time.

“They’re a long-lasting flower,” Wescoatt said. “You can enjoy them for a couple of months after they bud out.”

When she first started growing mums in her garden, it was more for the club’s plant sale, she said.

Donner Garden Club’s annual mum sale is now in its 54th year.

But soon Wescoatt was hooked. Now she grows most of the mums offered at the sale.

“Each year it has been growing because I’ve increased the raised bed area,” she said. “I added another six raised beds this year.”

Spider mums are the most common. But there are actually 13 classifications, each with its own distinctive flair.

Wescoatt grows every type.

“I like the spider,” she said. “They’re very lacy. They remind me of a fireworks display.”

One of her favorites is called “Wall Street.”

“It’s a small powder pink,” she said. “It’s very sturdy and has a mass of flowers. I saw it in the store and fell in love with it, and bought it. That was the beginning of my ‘addiction.’”

Wescoatt’s daughter, Kelly, president of Donner Garden Club, is fond of mums, too.

“That’s mainly what I have in my garden,” she said.

Kelly grows more than 20 varieties.

“My favorites are the miniatures,” she said. “They’re extremely tiny. In full bloom, they’re about the size of a dime.”

For those interested in growing their own mums, Carol suggests using cuttings, rather than planting from seed.

“If you plant from seed, you don’t get the true color of the plant it came from,” she said.

The best time to take a cutting is early spring when there’s new growth.

“Take a 4- to 6-inch cutting,” she explained. “Take off the bottom third of the leaves, dip the stem in root tone, then put it into a vermiculite and perlite mixture.”

It will take a couple of months to get the roots established. Then, it’s time to transplant it into the garden.

The flowers need full sun and well-drained soil.

“They do much better with raised beds because it keeps roots much warmer,” Carol said. “But they can be put right in your garden.”

This year’s garden club sale will feature 600 to 700 one-gallon containers, each with four to eight chrysanthemum plants, Carol said.

Preparations for the sale begin early. In the spring, club members visit Carol’s garden to take cuttings.

“We tend them through the summer,” she said. “The cuttings we take in June will bloom in time for the sale in November.”

The sale will also feature place settings and table arrangements to give visitors an idea of how to incorporate mums into the décor. Usually, all the club members attend the sale and are available to answer questions.

Gloria Young can be reached at gloriay@goldcountrymedia.com.

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Chrysanthemums

What: Donner Garden Club’s 54th annual mum sale

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31

Where: Veterans Memorial Hall, 100 East St., Auburn

Info: There will be dozens of colors and varieties available. Call Carol Wescoatt at (530) 888-6118 for more information.