Ball-shaped chrysanthemums in the garden: planting and care

Recommendation points

• Reproduction of chrysanthemum
• Reproduction by shoots
• Propagation by cuttings
• Wintering

Chrysanthemums are delicate and surprisingly unpretentious autumn flowers that adorn the garden right up to the snow and delight the eye. Caring for chrysanthemums is simple – planting, watering, feeding, but there are some points that you need to know so that your flowers show their brightest colors.

There are more than 650 varieties of chrysanthemums, which are divided into 13 groups according to the type and shape of the inflorescence. But, despite such an abundance of varieties, caring for them is not much different..

Let’s start by choosing a landing site. Chrysanthemums love warmth and bright sun. This does not mean that in partial shade they will not bloom, but the bloom will not be so lush and bright. In addition, these flowers are very sensitive to photoperiodism, that is, the alternation of dark night and light day is very important for them. Therefore, you should not plant them next to garden lights. The rhythm of the plant may be out of order and flowering may not come..

The soil for chrysanthemums should be loose and moist, since the root system of these flowers is very branchy, but it is close to the surface, and insufficient watering leads to the death of the roots, and hence the weakening of the plant. However, it is not worth pouring. Loosening the ground should be done carefully so as not to damage the roots.

Adult plants are fed throughout the season. For the first time in the spring, immediately after the appearance of the first leaves, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, to build up the green mass and grow the stems, the second time – during the period of bud formation, they are fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. You can add mullein from time to time if the soil is poor, but you should not get carried away. Amateur gardeners say that it is better to underfill manure than to pour it over. This is a good fertilizer, and is ideal for chrysanthemums, but if you misunderstand the concentration, the plant will die..

Reproduction of chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum does not throw out seeds well, but it divides perfectly by root processes. Usually these shoots are separated in April-May, when there is no danger of frost. At the same time, an adult plant is transplanted to a new place. It is not recommended to keep the chrysanthemum in one place for more than three years, otherwise it weakens and blooms worse.

Reproduction by shoots

Dig out a bush, shake off the soil, and you will see many young shoots on the roots.

Separate them from the parent plant with pruning shears or scissors, dig a small trench, fertilize it with peat and rotted manure and plant these processes in a row directly in the ground or in peat cups.

For the first time, it is better to shade the sprouts with a cloth or dark film. Do not forget about regular soil moisture. When the sprouts are well rooted, you need to pinch, leaving 4 leaves on the sprout.

This is necessary for the growth of side shoots. When the side shoots grow back, you need to pinch them.

More than two pinching should not be done, you can overdo it, and the plant simply does not have time to throw out the buds and bloom.

Large bouquet chrysanthemums are grown in one or three stems. At the same time, lateral shoots are regularly plucked, leaving the most straight and strong.

Ball chrysanthemum (multiflora) does not need to be pinched, nature itself and tens of years of work of breeders have already taken care of it. Ball chrysanthemum propagates by cuttings.

Propagation by cuttings

It so happens that you were presented with a bouquet of incredibly beautiful chrysanthemums, and you want to plant exactly the same ones in your flower garden, but you don’t know the name of the variety. How to be here? With chrysanthemums, everything is simple – wait until the flowers in the bouquet start to fade, cut the stem into cuttings of 10-12 cm, and put in a jar of water.

To disinfect water, put activated carbon in a jar, and 1 tablet of coal for 0.5 liters of water. You can wait for the roots to appear in the jar or plant the cuttings in a peat mixture. For the early formation of roots, you can use “Kornevin”. Although the chrysanthemum does not really need it, and under normal conditions the roots appear after two weeks.

Wintering

Chrysanthemums are frost-resistant plants, with the exception of greenhouse bouquet varieties, so if you have ordinary garden small-flowered chrysanthemums, there is no need to dig out bushes for the winter. But still they cannot be left as they are, be sure to insulate the roots. After the last flower has withered, we cut off the stem with a pruner, leaving a stump 10–15 centimeters above the ground, mulch the ground with peat and rotten leaves, and completely fill the plant with this mixture. Top can be covered with straw or spruce branches. In no case use a film, the roots of the plant can simply rot and rot.

If you still decide to play it safe and not leave flowers in the open field, then take care of the place where you will store the bush in winter. It should be a dark room, where the temperature will not exceed +4 … + 6 ° C, with moderate humidity. Dig out the plant with a lump of earth, wrap the root with a damp cloth, put it in a box, cover it with a cloth on top. Visit them regularly and make sure that the earthy ball does not dry out.

It can be very disappointing when you take care of a chrysanthemum all summer long, you wait for autumn to enjoy the beauty, but the cold autumn with night frosts breaks all hopes, and the buds remain unopened.

In this case, you need not to tighten, but immediately dig out the bush, transplant it into a suitable pot and bring it into the house. Then the chrysanthemum blooms and throws out more and more flowers, and so on until the New Year.

But you need to stop in time and still give the plant a rest and gain strength for the next flowering. That is, cut off all the branches, cover it well and take it to an unheated room for “hibernation”.

To decorate the site, choose low small-colored chrysanthemums. Be sure to ask the seller to what size your chosen flowers will grow, and what period of their flowering. It is better to use Korean chrysanthemums to decorate a flower garden. They begin to bloom in July, and with regular removal of wilted flowers, their flowering can be extended up to 4 months..

What can chrysanthemums be arranged with? Yes, with anything, they are unpretentious and will withstand any neighborhood. However, they are good on their own, and to accentuate this beauty, evergreen junipers, ornamental cabbage, or even simple lawn grass will do. Whatever you plant chrysanthemums with, they will not get lost and will not go unnoticed. After all, chrysanthemum is the queen among flowers.