Hardy Chrysanthemum 'Clara Curtis'

I live in Vancouver Washington (zone 8b) and I have a couple of these in my side yard. I have them left and right from a small Crape Myr...Read Moretle and I water the CM but not these Chrysanthemums. But they seem to get enough water from when I water the CM.

I am getting impressed with these because here it is early November and they are in full bloom, when not a lot else is in bloom. I'm planning to plant some more.

I got this plant in 2010 by accident from some mail order plant company. I actually almost threw it away but decided to give it a chance...Read More and planted it. The plant spreads nicely on it's own. It seems to have two main bloom pushes; one in early summer and one in late summer. I very much like it's 'naturalizing' habit. It can be a little floppy but only partially so. Mine gets morning sun and then bright shade the rest of the day.

A single, daisy-like, mid-pink flower, this was the first of Amos Perry's "rubellum hybrids", released in 1939 and still one of the most ...Read Morepopular garden chrysanthemums today. I find it exceptionally valuable for its exceptionally early and exceptionally long season of bloom.

In commerce, this is frequently confused with other garden mums. For example, if you look at the 18 pictures currently posted in this plantfile, how many different cultivars can you distinguish?. Fewer than half of those 18 show the plant I know as 'Clara Curtis'.

Garden chrysanthemums (including the "rubellum hybrids"---a trade name rather than a botanical one) are distinctly different from the "hardy mums" commonly sold in garden centers in the fall for bedding. For garden chrysanthemums to winter over reliably, they need to be planted in the spring. They're heavy feeders and tend to exhaust the soil quickly. Clumps tend to die out in the centers. They also tend to spread rather quickly. For all these reasons, they need frequent spring division with soil renewal, at least every 3 years.

The plant I've grown as 'Clara Curtis' is unique among garden chrysanthemums in its season of bloom. Here in Boston Z6a, it usually comes into bloom in early July and peters out in mid September. A few times, exceptionally early springs have also triggered a spring flush of bloom, as happens routinely with mums in the South. (For the best/most bloom, it's best to prevent the spring flush by pinching back as soon as the buds appear).

Garden chrysanthemums are usually pinched back in late spring, to induce branching, to increase flower bud production, and to reduce height and the need for support. The standard advice here is to stop pinching by July 4th. But for this cultivar, I'm reluctant to pinch even in June, for fear of removing summer flower buds.

I like this plant. It is a groundcover and spreads, so plan carefully where you want to put it. Easy to weed out and keep in bounds. Need...Read Mores pinching back (or shearing) two or three times during the summer to keep it from becoming leggy. Good in humid climates where other Chrysanthemums' big double blooms turn black with mold after fall rains.