Chrysanthemum indicum Julia

Chrysanthemum x indicum 'Julia', better known as the Garden Chrysanthemum, is a true ode to autumn. It is a recent variety of garden chrysanthemum that offers original and charming flowering from September to November, in small pale pink pompoms with a darker heart, striped with light red and carmine, with shades reminiscent of salmon and cream yellow. This bushy perennial forms a regular and colourful dome, with numerous buds and exceptionally bright daisies. It is ideal in borders, combined with golden and purple foliage that will subtly enhance these pearly colours. It is a very hardy plant that only requires a normal, well-drained and moist soil, especially in summer, and a bright exposure without intense sunlight.

The 'Julia' Garden Chrysanthemum belongs to the Asteraceae family and is a cousin of daisies and sunflowers. It is a cultivar derived from Chrysanthemum indicum, a plant native to East Asia, cultivated since antiquity in China, Japan, and Korea, which is the origin of florist chrysanthemums.

This 'Julia' variety quickly forms a rounded clump consisting of woody-based, leafy, and branched stems, about 80 cm (32in) tall and 50 cm (20in) wide. The flowering lasts from September to November depending on the climate, and it spreads over several weeks. The plant is covered with numerous double pompom-shaped flowers, pale pink to rosy-white with a heart striped with light red/carmine, even taking on salmon and cream hues, which lighten as they bloom. The flowers are in fact heads of a few cm in diameter, grouped in clusters called corymbs at the ends of the branched stems. The leaves are borne on a petiole 1 to 2 cm (1in) long. The lamina is ovate to elliptical oval, measuring from 3 to 7 cm (1 to 3in) in length and 4 cm (2in) in width, pubescent, pinnate, more or less lobed, with a truncate base. The root system of this plant is a shallow rhizome. Its above-ground vegetation dries up in winter and regrows in spring.  

Garden chrysanthemums offer immense worth during a time of year with somewhat fewer flowers, and blend remarkably well with autumn colours. They can be associated with asters in complementary colours. Their blooms can be lightened by e.g. cosmos, Japanese anemones, gauras, shrubby salvias, magellanica fuchsias, cafre lilies. They are particularly interesting when combined with grasses: Carex, Stipa, and Pennisetum. Chrysanthemums also make good cut flowers, very long-lasting in a vase. Consider using taller, brightly coloured varieties to create autumn borders at the base of deciduous bushes that reflect their yellow, red, and orange autumn foliage.

The aerial parts of Chrysanthemum indicum (flowers, leaves, and stems) are part of the Chinese pharmacopoeia. They are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of dizziness, symptoms of hypertension, and several infectious diseases.