Plant of the Month: Chrysanthemum

We don't get much of a color change in Gainesville, so you'll have to add your own autumnal flair to your landscape design! Luckily, Chrysanthemums are a great addition to your garden! Cultivars bloom in deep red, rich Bordeaux, and bronze, and golden yellows. While the leaves on your trees won't change, you can still get the beautiful colors of fall in your yard.  

One of the reasons these flowers are so popular is the wide variety of sizes and shapes they come in. Each Chrysanthemum's flower head is actually a cluster of many flowers. They can have one flower head or 3-7 per stem. Those with more than one flower are called spray Chrysanthemums. Different cultivars offer smaller or larger blooms, so you can choose the right color and coverage to complement the rest of your landscape design.  Chrysanthemums have both annual and perennial varieties. Perennial mums are easy to grow and will keep producing blooms year after year. Mums require rich, well-drained soil. They can tolerate full sun if the roots can be kept cool in the shade from other plants; otherwise, they do best in partial sun. Partial sun is often a challenge in Gainesville landscaping, but you can use other plants or ground cover to protect roots.

Because of their late blooms, Chrysanthemums provide nectar for butterflies after the summer flowers have died.  If you enjoy bringing the outdoors in with cut flowers, Chrysanthemums are perfect for gifting or decorating. They are absolutely beautiful, and their large blooms give a full look to arrangements without too much bulk in the container. When Chrysanthemums are cut, they can survive about two weeks in a vase. The leaves die much sooner than that, so it is best to cut the leaves before placing the flowers in a vase.  Consider adding Chrysanthemums to your dream landscape design to provide color, attract pollinators, and provide cuttings to display indoors.