Chrysanthemum rubellum Clara Curtis

Chrysanthemum x rubellum 'Clara Curtis' is a hardy and perennial plant, bushy, deciduous, with a woody stump. This already ancient variety, with well-deserved success, offers in autumn a profusion of large single flowers, pink with a centre ranging from green to yellow as the flower opens. Far from the somewhat sad symbolism of cemetery plants, this pastel and fragrant chrysanthemum will illuminate flower beds deserted by summer blooms.

Chrysanthemum x rubellum belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is a hybrid obtained by cross-breeding species from East Asia and Siberia (C.zawadskii). The 'Clara Curtis' cultivar forms a bush over 60 cm (24in) tall and 50 cm (20in) wide. Its growth is quite rapid. Flowering starts in mid-July, but reaches its peak in September-October. The plant is then covered with numerous daisy-shaped flowers, single, pink with a yellow heart, 7 cm (3in) in diameter. The flowers are composed of head-shaped inflorescences, 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3in) in diameter, fragrant, with narrowly lanceolate, ciliate bracts. The disc is yellow, the ligules on the periphery are pink and oblong. The leaves are triangular-ovate, lobed in five parts, measuring up to 5 cm (2in) long, and they are toothed or lobed, villous below.

Autumn daisies require a sunny exposure, a light, fertile soil, slightly acidic to neutral, and not too dry to moist. They are hardy, at least down to -15°C (5°F). To maintain a compact habit, the stems can be pruned in spring to 30 cm (12in), which will force the plant to branch out. A second pinching in the summer will result in a greater number of small flowers. Water two or three times a week and apply a liquid fertilizer for flowering plants every eight days from July until the buds start to colour.

Garden chrysanthemums offer immense resources at a slightly less flowery time of year and blend remarkably well with autumn colours. They can be associated with asters in complementary colours. Their blooms will be lightened by those of cosmos, Japanese anemones, shrubby salvias, magellanica fuchsias. These plants particularly complement grasses such as stipes, miscanthus, carex, eragrostis.