Chrysanthemums are back in fashion: 9 things you need to know
Hot on the heels of other vintage blooms such as dahlias and gladioli, chrysanthemums are back in fashion. Sometimes considered a bit naff (it’s all those 'grabbed-at-the-garage' bunches), the humble 'mum' or 'chrysanth' is enjoying a new fan following with garden lovers looking for late-flowering pops of vivid colour.
'Chrysanthemums have always been a popular plant in late summer as gardeners prepare for autumn,' says Nigel Lawton, plant buyer at Dobbies Garden Centres. 'However, this year we’re expecting them to appear in even more borders and containers as people shift away from neutral colour palettes and embrace maximalism and colour.'
Chrysanthemums burst with vibrant blooms that will last until the first frosts in November. Here's our expert advice for how to grow and care for your chrysanthemums.
1. Why are chrysanthemums still such a popular flower?
They're easy to grow and perfect for the cutting garden, producing bountiful blooms and lasting for weeks in water. There are several species, divided broadly into perennial chrysanthemums (hardy ‘garden mums’) with broad, deeply-toothed leaves, and annuals with narrower foliage.
Flower grower Kim Fleming, owner of Marlston Farm Girl in Thatcham, Berkshire loves chrysanthemums: 'They are work horses, one of the few flowers which can withstand the cold weather. It's nice to have a gorgeous focal flower once the dahlias have bid goodbye.'
Granny’s favourite is definitely enjoying a resurgence, Kim agrees. 'I think that the varieties which are so popular now became really hard to find and were replaced with, for lack of a better word, "supermarket" mums. The varieties available now, such as Silver Cloud, are amazing. Avignon Pink almost looks like a dahlia and I also love the Bigoudi series.'
2. Expert-recommended chrysanthemum varieties
Annelise Brilli, horticultural expert at plant and seed company Thompson & Morgan, recommends the hardy types of chrysanthemum as reliable border perennials and excellent container plants.
'One of our top sellers is chrysanthemum ‘Conella Orange’,' she says. 'It’s a very dense and bushy plant forming plump cushions of dark green foliage smothered in large, double orange flowers.'
The reverse of the petals is a darker shade of orange, so the foliage is studded with fiery orange buds that open to a lighter gold, creating a two-tone effect: 'Flowering from September to October, its amber shades are the perfect ode to autumn and stretch the garden display to its absolute limits.'
However, Annelise admits to a pet hate: 'Mention the word chrysanthemum and big, bloated heads of frumpy ‘Exhibition’ chrysanthemums immediately come to mind.
'Personally, these monsters are not my cup of tea,' she continues. 'They are also a horticultural headache, requiring skilled and time-consuming operations such as disbudding, staking and ongoing battles with pests and diseases that love to hide and fester in their dense, multi-petalled blooms.'
3. Benefits of growing chrysanthemum in your garden
'They bloom way later than almost everything else, so it's nice to have that pop of colour after everything else has faded,' says Kim.
Perennial chrysanthemums will last for more than one season, so they’re value for money too. 'Not only will chrysanthemums provide a welcome boost of rich colour this autumn, because they’re hardy perennials, they’ll come back year after year if cared for properly,' adds Nigel.
4. How and when to buy chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are widely available from August onwards in garden centres, but nurseries will raise plants year-round. Kim says she usually orders chrysanthemum plants for her flower farm in the spring, mentioning 'great suppliers' such as Chrysanthemums Direct.
But some people order in the autumn, raising the plants indoors and gradually hardening off when temperatures rise.
It’s also possible to grow chrysanthemums from seed. Annelise recommends giving the annual, Chrysanthemum carinatum ‘Polar Star', a go: 'It’s one of my favourite annuals of all time. You’ll be rewarded with masses and masses of tri-coloured [white, yellow and chocolate brown] flowers that look fabulous both in the border and the vase.
'If you have a sunny, free-draining position, grab a packet of these seeds now and sow them directly into well-prepared ground that has been raked to a fine tilth. This will produce strong, sturdy plants that will give you the earliest show of flowers in the spring.'
Alternatively, you could wait until March and sow direct or into modules. Annelise advises against seed trays for chrysanthemums as they don’t tolerate root disturbance when it comes to pricking out.
5. Tips for growing your own chrysanthemums
'Chrysanthemums like a fertile but well-drained soil,' says Nigel. 'Before planting, improve your soil with a peat-free multi-purpose compost, and mulch well after planting to ensure water retention.'
Chrysanthemums will benefit from a sunny spot and regular waterings throughout the season. However, don’t overwater as they dislike waterlogged conditions.
As Annelise points out, although some chrysanthemums are labelled ‘hardy’, it isn’t the cold (they can survive up to about –5 degrees Celsius) that will kill them, but the wet.
'If you have perfectly free-draining, warm soil, you might get the hardiest varieties through the winter with the benefit of a thick mulch, but otherwise they’ll need moving.' Annelise says. 'Containerised plants can be placed in a frost-free place and kept on the dry side. Border plants will need lifting, cut back and storing in just-damp compost. Overwintered plants can become woody but will provide lots of basal softwood cuttings in late winter or early spring.'
6. The best way to take cuttings from chrysanthemums
To prepare her chrysanthemums for cuttings, Kim takes her dormant plants out of storage mid-January and pots them on, giving them a healthy drink and leaving in a cool 10C space. 'Once shoots have started to appear you can take cuttings,' she says.
Remove the lower leaves from each shoot. Make a clean cut on the bottom and insert each cutting around the edge of a pot of good quality potting medium.
'Make sure the cuttings are moist but not soggy – we keep ours with propagator lids on to ensure even levels of moisture,' Kim adds. 'And also, ensure the potting medium has excellent drainage.'
7. What’s the best way to grow chrysanthemums in a pot?
'If you are going to grow chrysanthemums in a pot, you'll need to make sure they are staked very, very well to keep them upright and smart,' says Kim. 'As with growing anything in a pot, water levels and feeding are crucial.'
8. What problems might I have with chrysanthemums?
Chrysanthemum leaves are succulent and juicy and irresistible to slugs and snails, says Annelise: 'Molluscs have been around for over 500 million years and aren’t going away anywhere fast.' Read our guide here on how to stop slugs eating plants in the garden. Chrysanthemums can also be devastated by eelworms and nasty diseases such as white rust. Practise good hygiene and always grow them on new ground each year.
9. Are chrysanthemums poisonous to cats?
Chrysanthemum contains pyrethrin (found in dog flea treatment) and is 'only toxic if ingested in large quantities' but this depends on the plant variety or the plant's stage of bloom,' say Cats Protection, the UK's largest feline welfare charity. 'Cats are discerning eaters and usually will instinctively avoid eating many poisonous plants, but it is best to stay vigilant.'
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