Mild autumns and arid summers keep chrysanthemums on a different schedule here than in most other regions. They can get planted in spring to grow through summer and bloom through autumn; but because they can take a bit of work, they are more often planted while blooming in autumn. Although commonly grown as autumn annuals, they are perennials that can regenerate next spring, grow through summer, and bloom even better the following autumn.
Centuries of development in Japan have produced more varieties of chrysanthemums than can be documented. There are really some weird types grown for cut flowers or by hobbyists. Garden varieties are mostly limited to simpler flowers that do not need much thinning or staking. Color ranges through all sorts of hues and shades of yellow, orange, red, pink and bronze, as well as a few purplish colors, cream and white. Many have yellow centers. The aromatic foliage is alluring to some, but objectionable to others.
I’ve always enjoyed these flowers. When I was in grade school, its name showed up in my list of weekly spelling words, and it stumped me until I imagined it as the name of a young child and its mother: Chrys-an-the-Mum.
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Whoa! I never noticed that. I do remember being baffled by how ‘ch’ could sound like ‘k’.
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I love the smell of the foliage.
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Cool! So many do not. That is a complaint I get about marigolds.
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Not a huge fan of mums, but those white ones are beauties.
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Yes, they are! They are not mine though. I grew some white ones like them in the early 1990s that lasted for few years. You know, even though white is my favorite color, I prefer chrysanthemums in traditional chrysanthemum colors, like yellow, orange, brownish red and . . . you know, chrysanthemum colors!
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