Chrysanthemum cannot stop being promoted once October begins.
In floral language it means perfection, joy and eternity, but depending on the colour it can have a more negative meaning.
Keep this in mind when giving it as a gift!
In Spain we usually call it “chrysanthemum” when we buy or sell it for All Souls’ Day (1st November), but we rename it “margarita” to use it on any other date of the year. Curious, isn’t it?
Along with other seasonal autumn flowers such as pansy, cyclamen or primrose, you have a wide variety of options for designing your garden. Its flowers grow in perfect balls with a multitude of colours offering a thousand options to the most creative ones.
With the exception of the large pompons that are normally taken to cemeteries, the rest of the flowers, whether simple or semi-double, are sold all year round as fresh flowers in florists’ shops.The duration of this flower cut in a vase, without leaves in the water, can exceed 3 weeks, which is why it is in great demand for bouquet compositions.
In this month, sunlight is reduced to less than 14 hours. This condition is essential to induce chrysanthemum flowering. It is a perfect time to enjoy it!
Its care in a pot is very easy:
- Continuous irrigation, mainly during its flowering. Always keep the peat moist.
- The ideal temperature for this plant is around 15 °C, without going below 10 °C. Avoid air currents and you will guarantee its stability in the environment.
- Use large pots with good drainage and make a mixture of peat and vegetable substrate to favor its root.
And that’s it! Easy right?
Even so, sometimes they tend to present problems.
Here we tell you the most common. If you have doubts, we read you in comments.
- Buttons are not obtained: the plant is demanding fewer hours of light. As I mentioned before, flowering is induced when the light is less than 14 hours a day.
- The flowers do not open: this situation is the opposite of the previous one, so the plant needs more lighting.
- Brown spots appear on the lower part of the flower petals: it has all the appearance of being a botrytis cinerea. Use an appropriate fungicide.
- A powder appears on the leaves and stems that makes them discolour, squat and grow uneven: it is due to the powdery mildew fungus, which must be treated with another specific fungicide and urgently eradicated.
Rachel begins to distribute her first copies with buttons that open and offer their beautiful color.
Its main destination is decorative, either in gardening, terraces or balconies of houses. Cemeteries are also decorated with these flowers on All Souls’ Day.
By the way, in Spain this day is celebrated on November 1st and people go to the cemetery and decorate the tombs of their loved ones with flowers. What is your tradition?
Do you take natural flowers to the cemetery or are you inclined to use plastic flowers, they last longer exposed to the elements?
We would like to know how you enjoy this date that for some supposes a clash with reality and they live it in a tragic way and for others it is a great moment to get out of the routine and visit those who have already left, whose energy, joy and memories They remain intact in our hearts, enjoying a very special time with a visit to the Campo Santo.
TELL US!
We prefer to take that day with joy because of the meeting that it entails with other relatives in the place where our ancestors rest and we gather around a table to share typical meals of this date and always remembering great anecdotes or creating new ones.
We will be happy to read about your way of celebrating this day in the comments.
Let’s keep sharing our love for plants!
See you soon,
A. Mónica Martínez
