Gardeners in such states as Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and one or two of their near neighbors, formerly had difficulty in planning their gardens so they were full of bloom in the late Summer and early Fall months. The fact was impressed on me during a trip to the East in late Summer a little over a dozen years ago. I was in Boston about the time of Labor Day and was impressed by the abundance of bloom in the flower gardens. When I returned to the Twin Cities noted how bare of blooms our gardens were in Minnesota. That gave me an idea that something could be used to give abundant bloom in late Summer, and garden chrysanthemums seemed one good possibility.
Up to that time there were not many varieties of mums that would regularly bloom in the Fall before frost killed the flowers in Minnesota. That was due to the fact that chrysanthemums were short day plants: that is, they usually waited till the days were much shorter than they were in mid-June before they would set buds, and the farther North one went the later they were in blooming and the earlier the killing frost might come. To overcome the late blooming it would be necessary to find some that bloomed a little earlier and, by crossing and selecting, to obtain an early-flowering race of garden chrysanthemums.
Not much attention was paid to hardiness in those first varieties; anything that would give fairly good bloom was enough. Even yet, there are few chrysanthemums that are fully hardy in Minnesota and similar climates. Clara Curtis is one such hardy chrysanthemum, but it belongs to another species – Chrysanthemum rubellum. To obtain hardiness, various varieties, sub-species and species have been crossed with these early chrysanthemums. The variety Astrid, a derivative of Chrysanthemum aretieum, has been used by others as well as by us in Minnesota. Although we obtained a little greater hardiness, never have we obtained any variety that consistently bloomed before hard frosts from this strain. Lately we have been using Deanna Durbin, which is a variety derived from Chrysanthemum zateadski, and hope to obtain good flowers that are early enough and a plant that is fully hardy. Deanna Durbin blooms little the first year, but it seems to have more hardiness than most varieties. From this material we hope to obtain hardy varieties that will bear satisfactory flowers. Already some have appeared that are good but are not yet fully tested for hardiness.
Garden chrysanthemums have various uses, depending on their type. For example, the cushion type is especially adapted to mass use for their landscape value. Several of the Minnesota varieties are of this type, such as Harmony, Redwing, Aurora and Brilliant. Some new ones with better color of this type will be introduced from Minnesota in the next year or two.
The type I like best is the type that grows taller with longer stems for cutting. Incidentally, from the Zawadski material there will soon come some varieties tall and upright, suitable for growing in the cutting garden, producing long sprays of good flowers. A tall double white of this sort should be introduced soon.
Then, there is an intermediate type that grows less tall and is spreading but not compact like the cushion type. In this group are such varieties as Zantha, our Ilaroon’n Gold and Violet. These are good for cutting also, and make a mass display in the garden. The variety Violet illustrates the value of hardiness in that it produces a taller, more upright plant when two years old than it does when a first year plant from cuttings.
The so-called English chrysanthemums are interesting because of their sturdy growth and larger flowers. Most of them are too late for Minnesota conditions but a few produce some bloom, such as Indiana and Gold Standard. One cross between our Maroon’n Gold and the English variety Westbourne, has sturdiness, large flowers and brilliant color. This cross will probably produce a better variety of this type.
Speaking of hardiness, the most important factor in the environment is the matter of soil drainage. The better drained the soil, the better the chance the plants have of wintering well. That is why mums planted near the house usually come through the Winter in good condition.
All in all, garden chrysanthemums have proved all that could be hoped for to fill out our northern gardens in the late Summer and early Fall months. If possible plant them where they will be protected from the first Fall frosts, or protect them by covering with paper or muslin when frost threatens.
