Growing Resilient Chrysanthemums for Autumnal Hues and Continued Colour
Bring a splash of colour to your garden as summer fades with hardy chrysanthemums. These resilient blooms are ideal for adding vibrancy to your border when many other flowers are wilting.
Rooted cuttings or young plants become available in spring, providing the perfect opportunity to introduce these hardy plants to your garden. By late summer and early autumn, mature plants will be ready for purchase, offering instant impact in your border.
Chrysanthemums thrive in a sunny border, making them an excellent choice for those seeking colourful additions to their garden. There are numerous cultivars to choose from, each offering unique characteristics and colour palettes.
'Bronze Elegance', for example, is a sport of the pink 'Mei-Kyo' with complex, bronze pompoms. For those who prefer a more intense red, 'Granatapfel' is a great option, boasting nearly spherical, double flowers of intense red edged with golden yellow.
Pink enthusiasts might appreciate 'Jolie Rose', a good pink chrysanthemum with semi-double blooms and a white halo in the centre. For those seeking an unusual late-season bloom, 'La Damoiselle' offers large flowers on a branching, compact plant in a pale pink hue.
'Dernier Soleil', an old French cultivar, is another standout, producing blooms as early as August and continuing through to the frosts.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has given most chrysanthemums a hardiness rating of H4, meaning they are hardy to temperatures of around -5°C to -10°C. However, it's worth noting that hardy chrysanthemums need to be grown on in a greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill until they are large enough to plant out in spring.
Amos Perry, a master nurseryman, developed many celebrated chrysanthemum cultivars in the inter-war years. Two of his hardier cultivars, 'Hadabra' and 'Pelopidas', are still noted in plant registries today. These cultivars, originally listed as iris, show Perry's impact on hardy ornamental plants, particularly in iris and possibly chrysanthemum breeding efforts.
In the past 20 years, chrysanthemums have been re-established as a mainstay of the autumn garden. Cultivars such as 'Dixter Orange', with persistent double blooms of glorious, rusty orange, 'Bienchen' with golden yellow pompoms marked with a reddish brown heart, and 'Coup de Soleil' with large, half-double flowers of bronzy orange, have all contributed to this resurgence.
'Poesie', a creamy-white chrysanthemum, and 'Rumpelstilzchen', a strong, double red chrysanthemum with smallish flowers about 4cm across, have also helped reignite interest in hardy chrysanthemums. 'Herbstkuss', a fantastic single chrysanthemum with deep petals, benefits from pinching out in June.
For those seeking a bright-yellow single chrysanthemum, 'Ruth Treff' is a great choice, doing well in part shade and producing relatively early flowers. You can buy established young plants in early to mid-summer, ensuring you have a colourful autumn garden.
- Home-and-garden enthusiasts can find a range of hardy chrysanthemum plants in spring, perfect for adding vibrant colours to their gardens as summer fades.
- Gardens displaying a variety of chrysanthemum cultivars, such as the bronze pompoms of 'Bronze Elegance' or the intense red of 'Granatapfel', create an enchanting landscape during late summer and early autumn.
- As the royal horticulturists affirm, hardy chrysanthemums are resilient plants, thriving in a sunny border and withstanding temperatures as low as -5°C to -10°C, making them an excellent choice for home-and-garden lovers seeking long-lasting, colourful additions to their gardens.
