My husband Don has been growing our heirloom chrysanthemums for a few years now, and they’re more beautiful and more popular than ever. Flower lovers are always looking for new things, and mums have more variety than most flowers.
Here in San Jose we had a horrible heat wave during the first week of October. Mums can take some summer heat and keep growing, but that’s too darn late to be called summer! The mums were budding, and a few were starting to flower, and they did not like it at all. One variety, Lynn Johnson, looked especially bad, with scorched and crumpled petals, and we were ready to scratch it from our list of things to grow again. But later in the month it recovered a bit and put out some new flowers that looked normal.
We’re about halfway through the season now and we’re thinking of what to keep, what to scratch, which new varieties to try next year. Here are a few photos and our mum report card, in order of bloom as of October 30.
Clockwise from top left: Mixed bouquet with Alexis (center), Pink Fleece (small spray type), Piranga (rusty red at right), Kelvin Mandarin (rusty red at left); Single bloom of Mt. Shasta; Seaton's J'Adore in bloom on plant; Vase full of Jefferson Park.
Lynn Johnson – medium white, not great but that was mostly due to late season heat. We’ll try it again next year.
Bronze Fleece – I was disappointed with the color – too much yellow, not enough bronze - but that may have been due to sun and late season heat, so it’s worth another try. For small spray types, I like Rose Maiko much better.
Seaton’s J’Adore – large cream/pale yellow with some pink. This one’s a keeper, although we may not grow as many plants as we did this year. The color seems to change depending on the sun exposure; it’s most yellow in hot sunny weather early in the season, while the plants that were more shaded and bloomed a week or two later showed more pink/blush. Those were much prettier, in my opinion.
Jefferson Park – very good this year. The blooms look so much like Quan Yon Hung that we list them as interchangeable varieties. But Jefferson Park is a little lighter in color, a little smaller in plant size and a little earlier to bloom.
Klamath Falls – if you like bright fall orange and yellow, this is your guy! A small-flowered spray type that can grow tall; needs to be kept tied or it flops around everywhere.
Alexis – I had crossed this off my list last year but somehow we kept a couple of plants and they’re growing on me, so to speak. Blooms are a dusty mauve color that’s useful in arrangements.
Mt. Shasta – oh my! This is one of the most graceful blooms I’ve seen. We’re looking for a good white mum since florists still need that in fall, and this may be the one.
Pink Fleece – I wanted to try this as a substitute for Peter Magnus. Both are small-flowered spray types, but Peter Magnus is tall and unruly, so I had hoped Pink Fleece would be easier to control. It is, but it’s not as floriferous and not as pretty.
River City – the quintessential fall colors in a large incurved form. Performing well this year – a keeper.
A few of our 2024 heirloom chrysanthemums
Seaton’s Ruby – still mostly in bud but it looks like we’ll have a great harvest. It’s not my favorite, but it’s dependable and a good fall color.
Apricot Alexis – gorgeous color; performing well this year. A keeper.
Kelvin Mandarin – a little gem. Medium plant height, medium size flowers. Very neat and tidy growth, great fall color.
Piranga – varies from deep red to burnt orange with flecks of yellow. Strong growth, good fall color.
Rose Maiko – one of my favorites! A small-flowered spray type, with a neater, more compact plant shape than Klamath Falls or other spray types. The color is hard to describe and seems to go with anything you pair it with in an arrangement.
Seaton’s Coffee – always late to bloom, and it hasn’t fully opened as of Oct 30. Blooms are very large, spider-type form; plant is very tall and needs more staking than most varieties.
Gertrude – another favorite of mine. The color is similar to Alexis but pinker, and it has tiny fringes on all the petals.
Judith Baker – I think the late heat caused some damage; blooms look a bit dry and crinkled. But it isn’t fully open yet so I’m hoping for better results as the weather cools.
Quan Yon Hung – it’s still in bud at mid-season, but should be beautiful. It’s our strongest grower, and the easiest to propagate from cuttings.
Annie Girl and King’s Delight – these two failed this year, but we’ll try again because they’re my personal favorites!
As if that list wasn’t long enough, I’d like to try a couple of new-to-us varieties next year: Mocha, Blush Strokes, Pumpkin Eyes.
A few of our 2024 heirloom chrysanthemums
A few mums from our test plant row, fall of 2024: Apricot Alexis, Seaton's J'Adore, Piranga.
Comments