Chrysanthemum indicum Nantyderry Sunshine

Chrysanthemum or Dendranthema 'Nantyderry Sunshine' is a vigorous garden chrysanthemum, very floriferous, rather early, whose countless small yellow pompom flowers illuminate sunny beds at the end of the season. This perennial will quickly form a tall and beautiful tuft with abundant flowers for several weeks, until the first frost. Moderately hardy, but easy to grow in well-drained garden soil, this variety - award-winning in England - forms superb combinations with all the colours of autumn.

Chrysanthemum x indicum is an herbaceous and rhizomatous perennial with a woody stump, from the Asteraceae family. It is a hybrid obtained by crossing different species from East Asia (C.indicum) and Siberia (C.zawadskii). The 'Nantyderry Sunshine' cultivar, discovered in Wales by Glynne Clay in the 1980s, is said to be a seedling of the 'Mei-Kyo' cultivar found among plants of 'Bronze Elegance' chrysanthemums. The plant forms a 90 cm (35in) tall bush with a width of 60-70 cm (24-28in), capable of spreading from its stump. The foliage consists of ramified leafy stems, woody at the base. It grows quickly. The flowering, early for a chrysanthemum, extends from September to late October-early November. The plant produces numerous flowers gathered in small double heads, in the shape of pompoms, measuring 3 cm (1in) in diameter, grouped in small bouquets at the top of the leafy stems. The central disc is a bright dark yellow, the ligules on the periphery, thin and numerous, are a very bright lemon yellow. Before withering, the heart of the flowers turns orange-yellow. The leaves are triangular-ovate, roughly divided into 5 lobes and measure up to 5 cm (2in) in length. They have toothed edges, of a slightly dull dark green colour, and are villous underneath. The above-ground vegetation, deciduous, dries up in winter and regrows in spring. Its stump, very perennial, will live a long time in the garden. Its hardiness is evaluated at -10 °C by the Royal Horticultural Society in Britain. 

Garden chrysanthemums offer immense resources during a somewhat nostalgic time of year and their colours blend remarkably well with those of autumn. They can be associated with asters of course, in complementary or matching colors. Their flowering matches that of shrubby salvias, catmints and other gauras. These perennials blend particularly well with grasses such as feather grasses, small miscanthus, Muhlenbergia capillaris and foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum). They are easily grown in pots to adorn balconies and terraces, and provide excellent cut flowers.