FLORALFIREWORKS!
For late sparkle to your borders, chrysanthemums are just the ticket
WE OFtEN complain about our climate, but we shouldn’t. Damp, muddy winters and sometimes half-hearted summers are what make our gardens beautiful. While Europe freezes, British gardens will always have something in bloom.
Chrysanthemums are the biggest stars of late autumn. they give a final splash of colour, before we batten down and wait for snowdrops. the earliest
chrysanthemums flower from late July, but the latest still look pretty in December.
As cut flowers, they last for ages. Spray varieties are the most versatile, carrying multiple blooms on branched stems. the huge, durable flowers of singlestem
varieties are better for larger arrangements. though hardly perfumed, all chrysanthemums have a unique, almost spicy smell. it’s not unpleasant, but to some it may recall funerals or sitting in chilly churches.
As border plants, outdoor varieties blend perfectly with other perennials. their leafy stems bring extra greenery to an autumn border.
Select the right varieties and you can have chrysanthemums flowering from late July to mid
December. unlike cut-flower and show chrysanthemums, border varieties are fully hardy, long-lasting perennials. they mature as substantial clumps, each producing an abundance of flower-laden stems.
BORDER BEAUTIES
WHOPPEr single- bloom chrysanthemums are extremely needy. Most are raised annually, from cuttings.
those must be ‘stopped’ — cut back — in late spring. Each developing
stem should then have side-shoots regularly removed. the result of all that fiddle-faddle is a single terminal bud that opens to a huge bloom.
Border chrysanthemums come in a gorgeous colour range from white and palest pink, through yellows and bronzes to deep crimson. Most produce multibranched sprays of small to medium-sized flowers.
Pests and diseases are few, though aphids can be troublesome in some years. White rust is a scourge, but mainly to greenhouse chrysanthemums.
they seem able to grow in almost every soil type. A rich, free- draining, easily worked loam soil suits them best, as it would almost all perennials.
to flower freely they need good light, especially when the summer stems are extending.
Most benefit from support, particularly when in flower. i use interlocking metal stakes but canes and jute string also work.
FROM COOL TO HOT
WitH careful selection, you can have border chrysanthemums flowering from July to midDecember. First to flower, Mary Stoker has daisy-like flowers in pale apricot.
Next comes Clara Curtis whose single pink flowers blend well with purple and blue Michaelmas daisies. Less well-known, Dixter Orange flowers profusely from late August, soldiering on well into autumn.
if you prefer darker, hotter reds, one of my favourites is Duchess of Edinburgh. Her ruby flowers are semi-double. Flowering late, she would team well with the beautiful bronze Apollo.
the latest to flower is Emperor of China. An old variety, it has pale pink flowers many of whose petals are spoon- shaped. As nights grow colder, the leaves blush to a deep beetroot red.