Non Flowering Chrysanthemums

[benb]

Hi,

I am looking for some help with my non flowering Chrysanthemums. Last year we brought about 2 dozen 3" plants, from our local DIY store (homebase) and planted then in windowsill trays. Come last summer, they grew to about 6" and gave a full head of dark red flowers, and loked great. However, this year we re-planted them into the garden boarders, in the hope of a similar colourful display. But so far all they've done is grow & grow, to between

12-18" in hight, without any sign of buds, they are starting to take over, and block out all the sun light from te other plants in the boarders. Does anyone have any advice on what we've done wrong?

Many thanks

Ben

[Brian]

~~~~~~~~~~ You have done nothing wrong. You were not to know that the plants bought last year had been treated to flower early and smaller. These will possibly bloom later but probably too late, without protection. They might end up feet high!! Most likely quite worthless.~~ Sorry. Best Wishes Brian.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

As Brian said, they are late bloomers, and growers will sometimes manipulate their light to make them look more saleable in the stores. You didn't mention where you live, but here in upstate NY (zone 5/6, depending on luck), they bloom in early September, and if dead flowers are removed, they'll continue up until frost. Be patient, and give them some thick mulch (straw, shredded bark) in the fall. They don't always survive the frost. Here, they are more successful if planted near the house, where the foundation warms up earlier than the rest of the yard.

[benb]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the reply.

Damn those home improvement stores!

I might pull them up now, if they are worthless. They are taking over everything else, and stopping the light getting through, found a load of yellow leaved bedding plants underneath them at the weekend :-(

Ben

[benb]

Hi Joe,

We're in the UK, south-west. If this year is anything like last year, we won't get the first frost until late October, (although who knows what's going to happen with the current weather conditions), so maybe there is still time for them to flower. I can't remember what happened to them last year, whether we left them out or put them in the garage. I seem to have this image of them still being on the windowsills when we got the first snow in February. I think they either rotted or got cut down to the stumps, but then started re-growing in early March.

Ben

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Some of the best books about plants come from the UK, for obvious reasons. You should buy some, or borrow some from the library. There's a lot to like about mums, and methods (which involve) work for maximizing their blooming, but you'll need to read about these things. It would be inappropriate for anyone to type all of it here.

[Derryl Killan]

Hi Benb

Chrysanthemums are short day plants and will flower later into the autumn.

Derryl Killan Horticulturist Calgary

enb wrote: