Response from Maryse Friot, President of the Horticultural Society of Touraine. Garden chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum indicum or Dendranthema indicum) known as small-flowered daisies are perennial plants of the Asteraceae family, which form clumps with stems 40 to 60 cm high. The flowers are of various colors (white, red, yellow, purple, copper, pink). The leaves are lobed or cut, ovate to lanceolate. The flowers are arranged in heads with the ligulate flowers in the periphery and the tubular flowers in the center.
Flowering period: in the fall until frost.
It is a fairly hardy plant that requires a very hot summer with watering at the foot, preferably in the evening. In the event of a very cold winter, provide a cover, therefore mulching with straw or leaves. Its culture is very easy.
· Floor : Any garden soil, deep, humus-rich and well-drained.
· Exposure : Sunny.
After All Saints Day, bring chrysanthemums back to your garden. Place them under shrubs for natural winter protection.
The following spring, in March, fold back the very dry aerial part, unpot the plants, break up the clods and plant them. They can be planted individually in beds of perennials, near shrubs and at the end of rows in the vegetable patch. Those in the vegetable garden will allow you to have cut flowers from September.
Keep the soil moist around the plants by means of a mulch which will also prevent the emergence of weeds. Flower buds begin to form when the night is at least 9:30 am, ie, in Touraine, from August 15th.
Common diseases and parasites : Garden chrysanthemums are less prone to disease than large-flowered chrysanthemums. Aphids attack young shoots. Depending on the weather and the exposure, an attack of powdery mildew is possible in the late season.
It is a beautiful plant with flowers of very varied shape, important colors. She deserves to be in our gardens.