“I don’t do frilly,” say Diane Schaub, director of gardens at Central Park Conservancy. We are standing under the shade of an old magnolia in the English garden, one of three smaller gardens within Central Park’s six-acre Conservatory Garden near the northeast corner of the park. Schaub, who earned a diploma from the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, has been curating the Conservatory Garden for more than 30 years. And while she does not do frilly, she does do color and texture, breathtakingly well. She has a painter’s eye for composition and an architect’s instinct for structural detail.
Below, we share her best color combinations for fall garden beds:
Above: “This is as frilly as I go,” she clarifies, indicating a velvet-leafed plant with burgundy leaves, beside the bluestone path. The plant in question is a Solenostemon (formerly classified as Coleus) and the cultivar is ‘Lancelot.’ Above: Solenostemon ‘Lancelot’ (paired with Salvia ‘Paul’) belongs to a crew of leafy annuals whose impact is felt dramatically in this garden, where the seasonal spectacle owes a great deal to plants whose interest lies in their foliage.
Purple + Yellow + Blue
Above: If you thought leaves were boring, think again. Solenostemon ‘Purple Prince’, black-leafed Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’, and Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue.’
Above: A bed of Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’, Salvia x ‘Indigo Spires’, the leafy and lilac-striped Strobilanthes dyeranus, and elephant-eared Colocasia esculenta ‘Blue Hawaii’. The latter “makes the whole composition work,” says Schaub. Dark purple Pennisetum ‘Vertigo’ is in the background. Above: The English Garden is arranged in beds radiating from a central pond overhung by the largest crabapple tree in Central Park, leaves now turning yellow. Designed by Betty Sprout and opened in 1937, this part of the park was by the 1970s considered one of the most dangerous places in New York City. In 1980, the Central Park Conservancy was formed in response to the neglect the park had suffered in the previous two decades. Its founding director, Elizabeth Rogers, earmarked the Conservatory Gardens for renovation.
In the fall, stores are full of potted chrysanthemums and many indoor gardeners enjoy the display before tossing the plants when the flowers fade and the first frost arrives.
Chrysanthemums are perennials, so it’s not necessary to cut their life short when the weather gets cold.
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Mums don’t make good full-time houseplants, but you can certainly enjoy them inside for part of the year. You can bring outdoor potted specimens indoors to overwinter and keep the store-bought plants alive for planting out in spring.
While it is possible to keep them in the home all year long, they might not bloom.
This article discusses how to grow mums indoors. Here’s what I’ll cover:
Can Mums Grow Indoors?
There are numerous species in the Chrysanthemum genus, perennials that are part of the Asteraceae family.
Those typically grown in the home garden are cultivated hybrids, divided into 13 classes or classifications.
The hardy garden types that we plant out in spring, bloom in late summer to fall in a variety of colorful shades. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9, many garden varieties can also survive in Zone 3, with a little winter care.
There are also florist or exhibition chrysanthemums, showy, delicate types used extensively in the cut flower industry, which require careful cultivation and lack the cold hardiness of the garden varieties.
When you buy potted chrysanthemums at the store in the fall, they are almost always in full bloom.
Usually, these have been cultivated in greenhouses and the grower encourages the chrysanthemums to flower by giving them growth hormones or by careful manipulation of artificial light to stimulate blooming.
But here’s the caveat. After they stop flowering, mums often won’t bloom again if kept indoors or if they do, the flowers will be sparse.
The reason is that these are what are known as “short-day” plants, which means they need relatively short periods of light – under 12 hours – to trigger flowering. They also need cool temperatures below 60°F for a few weeks to signal to the plants that it’s time to start producing buds.
Unless you keep that thermostat extremely low during the winter, your house probably doesn’t have the right temperatures to encourage your chrysanthemum to produce new buds and blossoms.
You can manipulate the light exposure by putting them in the dark for about 14 hours and in light for nine hours over the course of two months. Then, put them in at least 13 hours of light and 11 hours of dark for another few months.
If you leave them outside all year long, this happens naturally. But when you keep them indoors, there generally isn’t a large enough shift between light and dark and cool and warm to encourage blooming.
On top of this, the potted mums that you find at the store in fall typically aren’t the same types that grow so gorgeously in the soil in the garden. They’re less hardy, for one, and are sensitive to drainage and light.
So yes, you can grow chrysanthemums indoors, but they probably won’t bloom unless you put them outside during the summer months. You’ll need to enjoy them for the foliage, which is beautiful on its own. It’s also delicious in tea.
How to Grow Indoors During the Winter
Whether you are bringing home a potted mum in bloom from the store or taking your outdoor chrysanthemums indoors for the winter, place them as close to an exterior window as possible.
South-facing is best, but east- or west-facing works, too. Just don’t rely on a north-facing window to provide sufficient light or your chrysanthemum will become pale and leggy.
Indoor chrysanthemums require a lot less water than those growing outdoors in the garden. This is because there is less wind and sun inside, so evaporation is slower and the plant takes up less water and fewer nutrients during the winter.
Let the top few inches of soil dry out before you add more water. Overwatering is a quick way to invite diseases or even kill your plant.
Once the last predicted frost date in your neck of the woods has come and gone, you can work on moving your plant outside.
If you’re keeping your chrysanthemum in a container rather than planting it out in the garden, spring is the time to repot.
Choose a container one size up from what the plant is currently growing in, and ensure that the new pot has drainage holes. The material the pot is made from doesn’t matter. If you’re reusing an older container, be sure to wipe it out with soapy water first.
Then, and this is important, harden off the mum for a good week or two.
Your plant is used to living in the protected environment of your home. There’s no harsh wind or other kinds of environmental conditions that outdoor chrysanthemums face.
So you need to reacclimate it. Think of hardening off a bit like taking your plant to base camp for a bit before you let it scale Mount Everest.
To do this, take the plant outside and place it in a protected area in direct sun for half an hour to an hour on the first day. Then, take it back inside. The next day, add a half hour to an hour. Keep adding a half hour to an hour until the mum can stay outside for eight hours.
At that point you can leave it out there in its container or transplant it into the ground.
How to Grow Indoors Year Round
If you want to keep the chrysanthemums indoors year-round, you can do so, but just remember that the plants might not flower or, if they do, the display won’t be anything like you’d see outside.
Chrysanthemum leaves are edible, but they aren’t as tasty as the type that is grown specifically for food.
Known as shungiku in Japan, C. coronaria produces more tender, less pungent leaves than the hybrids we grow in the garden. C. indicum is typically grown for its flowers, which are dried and used in tea.
You can technically eat the leaves and flowers of the hybrid types, but it’s best to sample just a small amount first to see if you have any sensitivities or allergies and avoid it altogether if you’re allergic to species in the Asteraceae family.
If you decide to keep your plants indoors, proper watering is the key to success. Mums don’t like to have their roots dry out, but conversely it’s easy to overwater indoor specimens. Let the surface of the soil dry out between watering.
Better yet, stick your finger into the soil down to the second knuckle. Does it feel like a well-wrung-out sponge? Excellent. If it feels soggier than that, stop watering until it dries out.
If the soil feels dry to the first knuckle, add water. If you notice that the soil feels wet down at the tip of your finger, you might have drainage issues. If this is the case, pull the plant out of the pot, make sure the drainage hole is unblocked, and replace some of the soil in case it has become compacted.
Feed once a month throughout the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter, stop fertilizing and reduce water as described above.
Mum’s the Word
I can’t imagine a year in my garden without some kind of chrysanthemum, whether I’m growing it indoors or out.
When you find one that you love, you want to keep it alive and thriving.
Are you going to keep yours indoors all year or are you thinking you’ll move it inside just for the winter? Let us know what your plan is in the comments section below.
While I try to live in the moment as much as possible, it’s harder to be mindful when it c0mes to garden design. After all, planning ahead for the next season is often the key to a beautiful four-season garden. As summer chugs along, I’m already thinking about what flowers will be blooming in the months ahead and what will be supportive to our pollinator friends.
Here are some favorite late bloomers I’m considering for my and my clients’ gardens this fall:
I know what you’re thinking: those supermarket flowers? But take a closer look at the more unique varieties that have hit the market. I totally swoon over the spider, quilled, and pom pom ones, and you might, too. These long-lasting cut flowers boasts autumnal colors and are superbly sturdy, making them a great addition to a cut flower garden. Also, because they contain pyrethrum, a natural insect repellent, consider planting some on the edges of a vegetable bed to ward off nibbly invaders. Hardy in USDA Zones 3-9. Best planted in full sun and soil that drains well. (See Gardening 101: Chrysanthemums.)
Come late summer, when many flowers start fading, asters are here for the bees, butterflies, and other pollinator pals. Depending on the variety, some asters grow to around a foot tall, while others tower to 6-plus feet; they can range in color from purple to blue and white. Plant in a partly sunny to full sun spot with soil that drains well. Potentially deer-resistant as well. I’m fond of Aster chilensis as it is a vigorous California native perennial with pale lilac flowers and is a great butterfly nectar plant. Hardy in USDA Zones 3-8.
A fall favorite, Rudbeckia hirta is also beloved by pollinators and looks fantastic when planted with ornamental grasses for a meadow effect. Growing from 1 to 3 feet, they make great cut flowers and thrive in a sunny spot. Make sure to deadhead the flowers to promote blooming, and then at the end of the season leave the seed heads for the birds to snack on. Favorite hybrids include ‘Prairie Sun’, ‘Sonora’ and ‘Autumn Colors’. Hardy in USDA Zones 3-9. See also Gardening 101: Black-Eyed Susans.)
Anise Hyssop
Above: Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Jinny Blom’s What Makes a Garden. (See our review of the book here.)
Contrary to what might be assumed, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) plant is not anise but is instead in the mint family and the leaves exude a spicy scent similar to licorice. Adored by pollinators and detested by deer, this perennial produces long lasting purplish blooms that can be used in flower arrangements. The vertical habit pairs well with cascading ornamental grasses and other fall-blooming favorites. A sunny spot is best. USDA Zones 4-8.(See also Gardening 101: Hyssop.)
“Chrysanthemums are long overdue for a revival,” says garden writer Naomi Slade, the author of the new book Chrysanthemums: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden, which is out in the U.S. now and launching in the U.K on September 12. “They’ve gotten this reputation of being workhorse flowers that are not very special,” she says. “In fact, they’re incredibly special and really interesting.”
Because chrysanthemums, or mums as they’re often called, are easy to grow and last for ages, they’ve become ubiquitous in commercial floristry. Some cut flower growers, however, have caught the heirloom chrysanthemum bug, and with the help of Slade’s book, more people will soon discover how exciting chrysanthemums can be.
Photography by Georgianna Lane from Chrysanthemums: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden by Naomi Slade, courtesy of Gibbs Smith Books.
Above: Slade says she was excited to discover the PIP series of commercially-grown chrysanthemums, including ‘PIP Salmon, above. “Its creamy apricot blooms have a deeper caramel stripe,” Slade writes, “The lightly brushed streaks add detail without being fussy, and impart a gentle texture that helps the flower blend with other components of a bouquet.”
Slade attributes the growing enthusiasm for chrysanthemums in part to the recent popularity of dahlias. “Chrysanthemums have all the good qualities that dahlias have,” Slade enthuses. “They pick beautifully, they photograph well, they’re wonderful for arranging. And there’s this whole other bunch of chrysanthemums, which are also hardy garden plants. So, it’s like dahlias plus.”
Chrysanthemums are beautiful and highly valued plants for the late season garden, creating gorgeous mounds of cheery, daisy-like flowers in a large array of colors.
They’re outstanding in beds, borders, and containers and are also a popular addition to fall decor schemes, adding easy color to harvest and cider-pressing parties, plus autumnal celebrations like Halloween and Thanksgiving.
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Chrysanthemums have a long flowering time, blooming from late summer into late autumn, and regular pinching and providing optimal conditions can ensure a prolific display of blooms.
These cold hardy herbaceous perennials are generally low maintenance and easily cultivated, and if you’re not seeing masses of flowers, a few easy corrections can quickly restore their glory.
Is your garden ready for abundant, colorful cushions of chrysanthemum flowers? Then let’s get started and discuss the best tips for masses of blooms!
Here’s what you’ll find ahead:
Chrysanthemum Bloom Time: Tips for Abundant Flowering
1. Light Exposure
Although chrysanthemums can tolerate a bit of light shade, if they have to stretch for sunlight they tend to become leggy, taking on a loose form, with fewer stems for bud set.
And fewer buds naturally leads to fewer flowers.
Plus, the stems of chrysanthemums grown in shady locations are typically thinner and weaker, causing them to flop or break in heavy rain or wind, which also results in flower loss.
For strong plants with a thick, dense form and plenty of flower buds, give your chrysanthemums a full sun location, or at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.
Also, avoid placing your chrysanthemums where they receive light from artificial sources at night, such as landscape lights, porch lights, or streetlights.
Mums are short-day plants and unwanted light can cause a late bud set, resulting in fewer buds or none at all.
2. Moisture Levels
Maintaining adequate moisture levels in the soil is another important factor to promote a vibrant floral display.
Chrysanthemums are shallow rooted and don’t like to dry out between water applications – and enduring prolonged dry periods can be highly detrimental to bud set.
For a lush, vibrant bud set, keep the soil lightly moist, providing plants with one inch of water per week during the vegetative or early growing stage.
This means they also need well-draining soil to prevent standing water from collecting in the root zone, which can cause its own set of problems like root rot.
However, once the buds start to open, you may need to increase the frequency of watering to keep the soil evenly moist – don’t allow more than the top half an inch to dry out between applications.
If you’re unsure about determining moisture levels, a moisture meter takes away the guesswork.
During periods of high heat, more frequent – even daily – watering may be needed, particularly for container-grown chrysanthemums which tend to dry out quicker than those growing in the ground.
To help retain soil moisture and to keep the roots cool, you can apply a two- to four-inch layer of summer mulch over the root zone using materials such as bark, compost, leaf mold, or straw.
3. Rich Soil
One of the best ways to ensure healthy chrysanthemums that produce plenty of buds is to grow them in fertile, loamy soil – but it also needs to be well-draining.
When planting, enrich the soil with one or two parts of organic matter such as compost, well-rotted manure, or worm castings.
To help keep the soil evenly moist, add in one part of moisture retentive materials such as coconut coir, peat moss, perlite, or vermiculite.
And to improve drainage, mix in one part of grit, such as horticultural sand, pea gravel, or stone chips.
Giving your plants a fertile, well-draining location is one of the foundational building blocks to healthy plants. Start them out strong and they can’t help but to give back with an ample bud set!
Chrysanthemums aren’t heavy feeders, but they do benefit from regular fertilization to promote healthy roots, strong bud set, and overall vigorous growth.
An effective and easy fertilizing regime is to start feeding plants in early spring with a one- to two-inch layer of compost, well-rotted manure, or worm castings applied over the root zone.
A second application of compost can be made in midsummer after the buds set.
Or you can supplement the compost with commercial products like slow release pellets or fast acting liquid fertilizers using a balanced feed with a 10-10-10 (NPK) or similar ratio.
If you need a recommendation, I use Burpee’s Enhanced All Purpose Plant Food, available at Burpee. It has an NPK ratio of 5-5-5, which is perfect for feeding your flowers.
Apply slow release pellets in early spring and again when the buds form in early to midsummer.
Liquid feeds can be applied monthly after plants are pinched out in spring.
However, container plants do better with more frequent feeding every two weeks – but the fertilizer should be diluted to half-strength for biweekly feedings.
Commercial growers typically provide a high nitrogen feed during the growing or vegetative state, then once the buds emerge, switch to a feed that’s higher in phosphorus.
And although it’s a bit more involved, you can recreate the same feeding schedule at home.
Start by feeding plants with a formula similar to 20-10-20 (NPK) after new growth emerges in spring.
And regardless of the fertilizing method you choose, stop feeding your plants by the end of July – new growth produced after this time is frost tender and easily damaged in cold temperatures.
For plants densely laden with buds, pinching out the growing tips is a crucial step to ensure prolific blooming.
Pinching out the tips is important because it induces axillary branching, or lateral stems, with each new stem developing buds and gives an attractive, uniform display.
For single varieties, plants should be pinched once by hand. This is because the terminal, or central buds are left in place while the side buds are pinched out.
Pinch single cultivars in spring or once plants are six to eight inches tall.
But pinching spray varieties is the opposite – the terminal or central buds are pinched out leaving lateral side shoots in place.
Pinch spray varieties in spring once the new growth is six to eight inches in height.
Spray varieties can also benefit from a second pinching in early July, and can often double the number of blooms.
However, pinching should notbe performed after mid-July as the new buds may not have time to develop into flowers before cold weather sets in.
If you only have a small number of plants, the hands-on approach is to pinch out the tips just above a set of leaves between your thumb and forefinger, leaving a few leaves on each stem.
But for larger plantings of spray varieties, it’s more efficient to shear plants back with clean, sharp garden snips, reducing the size by one-third to a half, and leaving a few leaves on each stem.
But avoid pinching single cultivars this way – their terminal buds need to stay in place.
Removing spent blooms as they fade is a good way to encourage the last remaining buds to open into flowers and can even encourage fresh budding in mild temperatures.
As soon as flowers have faded, nip out the spent blooms with your fingers or use garden snips to deadhead and tidy up appearances.
With their easy care requirements and colorful flowers, chrysanthemums are the ideal choice for showy late season displays!
For the best flower production, give your plants a full sun location in enriched soil that’s moist and well-draining, and fertilize regularly.
Pinch out the growing tips in spring then deadhead spent flowers when they’ve finished blooming and you’ll be rewarded with plants brimming with color!
What are your favorite mums for showy autumn blooms? Let us know in the comments section below.
Chrysanthemum is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the Asteraceae family native to Asia.
Commonly known as “mums,” these plants grow in full sun to part shade with rich, moist, slightly acidic, well-draining soil. Bloom times vary from late summer to late fall.
The flower heads consist of center disk florets surrounded by ray florets, which are usually referred to as petals. They range from one to eight inches in diameter in colors including burgundy, orange, pink, purple, yellow, red, and white.
Mature dimensions of the plants are 12 to 36 inches with a spread of 12 to 48 inches.
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In the fall, farmers’ markets and grocery stores offer decorative “florist” mums, intended to be grown as holiday decor and disposed of after flowering.
These plants have precisely rounded forms and few “stolons,” or horizontal runners. They are hardy in Zones 7 to 9, and gardeners elsewhere grow them as annuals.
Nurseries carry hardy or “garden” mums in the spring for potting up or planting out in the garden. These are the chrysanthemums commonly grown in the landscape and are hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
Both florist and garden mums are Chrysanthemum x morifolium hybrids. The ones we see at the store have shortened petals with a flattened appearance classified as “Decorative.”
Other types are generally grown commercially for the cut flower industry or exhibited at botanical gardens.
This guide discusses 13 classifications the National Chrysanthemum Society have established to promote the genus, support growers, and set international standards for competitive cultivation.
Here’s the lineup:
There are approximately 20,000 cultivated varieties of chrysanthemums worldwide.
“Spray” types have multiple blossoms per stem, while “standard” varieties have a single bloom.
Growers encourage plants to produce one large flower per stem with a technique called “disbudding,” which involves removing the side shoots of a spray to produce a single bloom on the main stem.
In China, the chrysanthemum is one of the “Four Gentlemen,” or “Four Noble Plants.” It symbolizes vitality, tenacity, prosperity, and happiness. Yellow varieties feature prominently in New Year’s celebrations.
It is Japan’s national flower, representing longevity, luck, and nobility, and is displayed prominently during the early autumn Festival of Happiness.
The chrysanthemum is one of the “Four Gracious Plants” of Korea, symbolizing luck, longevity, and joy. It is a popular flower for arrangements and festivals.
Here in the United States, this autumn showstopper is a staple in landscape decor featuring a harvest theme complete with pumpkins, haystacks, corn stalks, and brilliant foliage.
The National Chrysanthemum Society has organized garden types based on the physical attributes of the flowers. Let’s explore each class:
1. Irregular Incurve
Irregular incurves have six- to eight-inch flowers atop four-foot stalks, and these are the largest of all the varieties.
Most petals curve upward, obscuring the center, while the outermost ones dangle loosely like a skirt.
They are well-known in botanical garden circles and among international competitors who undertake the challenge of creating an “ozukuri,” or “thousand blooms” display in which they train one stem to produce a dome of evenly spaced blossoms. It is a spectacular sight to see!
Photo by Bay Area Chrysanthemum Society, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Specialty growers “disbud” the plants, removing all side shoots to achieve a sturdy single stem with one bloom.
Plants may reach two feet tall and require staking. Bloom time is mid-fall.
2. Reflex
Reflex forms have overlapping petals that curve downward and resemble layered bird feathers. The blossoms have slightly flattened tops and measure four to six inches across.
Plants are grown as “disbuds” that reach a height of three to four feet and bloom in early fall.
3. Regular Incurve
Regular incurve types have compact flower heads with rounded petals that curve inward to create a dense sphere.
They measure four to six inches across on stems up to three feet tall.
Cultivars in this category are often called football mums. They bloom in mid-fall, and require staking. Disbudding yields one bloom per stem.
4. Decorative
Decorative types have upper petals that curve upward and lower petals that bend backward.
These are the most common types sold as florist varieties for growing as annuals as well as the perennial garden types for the landscape.
Florets measure one to four inches across, depending on the cultivar. Mature heights are one to three feet. Bloom time is early to late season.
The Hardy Fall Mums Variety Pack contains two chrysanthemum in containers measuring 12 inches in diameter and 10 inches tall. Mature heights are one to three feet.
There are sprays with multiple one-inch “button” poms or single-stemmed plants with globular blooms measuring four inches across.
The large single blooms are achieved by disbudding, so if you grow these in the garden the flowers may be smaller.
Pompon varieties do not require staking and are wonderful cutting garden flowers. They bloom mid-season.
7. Single and Semi-Double
Hardy perennial single and semi-doubles are the most daisy-like in appearance, with a center disk surrounded by one to seven rows of rays measuring two to three inches across.
They often appear in cascading floral displays.
Mature heights are one to three feet, and bloom time is mid-autumn.
8. Anemone
Anemone types have a prominent raised center disk like a pincushion surrounded by rays. The flower heads measure two to six inches across.
Anemone types bloom mid-season. Like single and semi-double chrysanthemum, they grow to heights of one to three feet, and will require staking.
9. Spoon
Spoon types have multiple layers of upward-facing, cupped petals resembling spoons surrounding a center disk.
The blossoms are two to four inches across, perch atop two- to three-foot stems, and require no staking. Bloom time is mid-season.
‘Matchsticks’ is a riot of color with yellow petals, the open tips in bright red, providing a bright autumn display.
The petals are tubular with either a closed, pointed tip or an open one, like the quill of a feather pen.
Quills are generally grown as disbuds. The flowers measure two to six inches across, and mature heights are two to three feet. Bloom time is mid-fall.
11. Spider
Spiders, aka Fujis, have slender, tubular petals with open tips that hook or curl at the ends like the limbs of a gangly arachnid.
Spiders are generally grows as disbuds for cut flower bouquets. Flower heads measure four to six inches across. Plants bloom in mid to late autumn.
12. Brush and Thistle
The petals of brush and thistle types are narrow and thread-like. The flower heads measure two to four inches across.
Photo by Shuvaev, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Some have petals that twist and protrude haphazardly and may reveal the center disk.
Others point upward, parallel to the stem, and slightly fanned out, like an artist’s well-used paintbrush. They bloom in mid-fall.
13. Unusual
Unusual is the catch-all category for flower forms that don’t fit neatly into the other 12 classifications.
These types often exhibit a combination of characteristics or entirely different ones.
Many a Mum
As a floral designer, I’ve worked with varieties ranging from button pompons to hand-sized spiders.
Every October I trek to the local orchard for pots overflowing with russets, yellows, and lavenders.
Whether you enjoy cut stems in a vase, potted annuals for the autumn season, or a yearly flush of perennial color, chrysanthemums have much to offer with their rich palette of colors, forms, and sizes.
How do you enjoy these autumn classics at your house? Please tell us in the comments below.
Above: Dahlias are Mexico’s national flower so they grow exceptionally well here.
Gabriela’s garden presently is 3/4 of an acre and it expands little by little. She started with a 1/3 of an acre (which was grass) and the landlord agreed to rent her more space over the time. Depending on the season, Gabriela grows mainly ranunculus and dahlias, but she also cultivates sweet peas, hellebores, poppies, phlox, cosmos, larkspur, and foxgloves. When dahlia season ends, she turns her attention to celosia and cosmos, and snapdragons and sunflowers, too. Gabriela has her eye on Echinacea pallida ‘Hula Dancer’, which she will try out soon.
Above: Gabriela shares, “No garden will flourish without love and care.” Every inch of her garden cultivates her spirit and nurtures her soul, from the casual stone pathway to the infinite number of petals.
Anyone who grows their own cut flowers knows just how rewarding, convenient, and cost-saving this process can be. On a practical level, Gabriela adds, “When you grow your own flowers you get to choose the best stage to cut them and you have flowers that actually last longer. You can also have curvy stems and not very standard stems. The flowers that you grow in the garden have more personality and so the arrangement will be more special.” On a more spiritual level, “growing flowers can really change the way you feel in life and can remind us that we are part of an amazing universe and an infinite intelligence that created all the beauty surrounding us to show us its love,” she says.
Above: (left) A prolific pink Chrysanthemum will add tantalizing texture to an arrangement and (right) delicate cosmos, grown from seed, will add an airy, romantic touch.
Of course successful home-grown flowers take experience, trial and error, and a bit of serendipity. For anyone who is intrigued about venturing into this self-sufficient world, Gabriela shares this tip: “Raised beds are always good, also amending the soil and having a drip irrigation system. But, more importantly, love and care for them every day. Flowers respond to our energy and care.”
From backyard gardens to rooftop terraces, now is the time to play chrysanthemums and cannabis
Spring is here and now is the time for gardeners to emerge and start planting. From backyard gardens to kitchen boxes to rooftop terraces, little seedlings are being dropped in the soil looking to emerge with something good. As you are looking to grow something beautiful and useful, May is the time to plant marijuana and mums. Both are short-day plants and can make your full, medium or mini garden fun.
Both plants require at least 6 hours of full sun, plenty of water, and oxygen rich soil. In addition, planting garden buddies alongside cannabis plants can promote terpenes, repel pests, and disguise unwanted odors. Chrysanthemum flowers contain a chemical called pyrethrin, a natural ingredient found in many pest control products. Pyrethrin causes a disruption in the insect’s nervous system, making these colorful flowers as beneficial as they are attractive. In addition, mums have a scent from there to their daisy family ties. It spreads a spicy fragrance all their own.
Photo by jessicahyde/Getty Images
When you’re ready to plant, begin by soaking the plant – if a seedling (in a 4” pot – in a solution of liquid seaweed or root stimulator. Then dig the planting hole, sprinkle a balanced in a fertilizer and fill with good soil. (Alternatively, you can sprinkle fertilizer around the plant in a ring after planting). Some people swear by fish fertilizer, it is whiny, but can do the job.
Next, prune a few lower leaves off the plant and plant it deep, so the bottom of the stem is under the soil. Additional roots will grow from the stem. Finally, water the plant thoroughly, watering around the base and try keeping water off the leaves.
Next, let them grow and mature, cannabis 57-84 days and marigolds about 45-70 days. Water in the morning and keep tools clean to avoid pests and fungal diseases. Drip irrigation works well to keep water off the leaves.
In the heat of summer, you may need to water twice a day, especially for plants grown in containers. Another important way to keep your mums looking good is to deadhead the spent flowers before they’re completely dead. Monitor plants daily for any appearance of pests or diseases and always use organic sprays or soapy water.
When they have matured, pick and enjoy, knowing you have created this little piece of joy yourself!
With the Lunar New Year coming up on February 10, we’re resurfacing this story from our archives about using Chinese lanterns in floral arrangements. Consider yourself lucky if you come across the stems at your local flower shop—and bring them home to artfully decorate for the holiday.
Chinese lanterns have a mystique that may be lost on the innocent gardener. A couple of seasons after being planted and even forgotten, the large leaves and unremarkable white flowers of this ornamental plant emerge everywhere, even in a lawn. Yet, as fountains of papery calyces turn from green to a deep autumnal orange, the point of persevering with this aggressive spreader becomes clear.
Artist Fiona Haser Bizony, formerly of Electric Daisy Flower Farm in Bradford-on-Avon, harvested hers in September, then hung them indoors to dry for a couple of months, having first stripped the leaves. What do they go with? Everything.
Above: Chinese lanterns are also known romantically as Amours en Cage (Love in a Cage), because of the fruits that are revealed after the cases have dried out.
The notoriety of Physalis alkekengi is somehow compounded by the knowledge that it is a member of the nightshade family, which includes tomato, potato, and highly poisonous belladonna. Clearly, the solution for taming this orange “bladder” (from which its name derives in ancient Greek) is to grow it specifically for harvesting, all by itself. In a wilder garden, Chinese lanterns light up a hedge, when grown in rough grass around the perimeter. Sun preferred.
Above: Hedgerow gatherings, including spindle and hawthorn, joined by magenta chrysanthemums and Chinese lanterns.
In preparing her lantern harvest for an arrangement, Fiona simply took a look around. “This is the result of a lovely bit of foraging in the hedgerows around our new farm for autumnal foliage and berries,” she says. Being a highly innovative flower decorator (she’s Florist in Residence for the Royal Horticultural Society, among other honors), Fiona is not short of homegrown flowers to complement Chinese lanterns.
