The Final Flowers of the Fall

Here in the chilly north east corner of Pennsylvania (zone 5), far from balmy Bucks County down in the south of the state near Philadelphia (zone 6 and 7) where most of PA's gardeners seem to be, we've already had a sharp frost. But today I've just ducked in out of the rain after checking which few plants are still in flower here on 1 December. The forecast, by the way, is bizarre: 65F/18C, thunder and snow! Back in England, the papers have been carrying comment on the weird autumn weather for the last month, like this in The Guardian.

Here, after more than a shock a few weeks ago when we had two nights of about 20F/-6C, it's two single-flowered chrysanthemums in the old-fashioned style which stand out and are still carrying flowers. Not the hummocks we see each fall in pots on the front steps of suburban homes, looking like painted footballs waiting to be kicked over the fence. These are all very well if all you need from a perennial is a few weeks of color and a lob into the garbage. In fact, plant them in the garden and some, though not all it seems, will come back next year and make more relaxed and more elegant plants. No, the two I've noted here, both from Niche Gardens, are 'Jettie' and 'Niche's October Glow'.

'Jettie', from Plant Delights, is white, but not quite white. The heads of flowers are rather crowded - the opposite of the superb rose pink 'Country Girl', also from Plant Delights, and also Niche Gardens,whose open airy habit is most distinctive - as is the fact that the frost turned the foliage of just this one variety, out of about 20 I've been growing this year, to bright yellow. Anyway, the flowers of 'Jettie' are only about an inch and a half across, and gathered together perhaps a little too tightly. But the back of each ray floret (petal) is pale pink and the color shows through just enough to take the purity out of the white.

There are one or two flowers remaining on the lovely 'Will's Wonderful', from Seneca Hill Perennials (we'll get into the difference between that and 'Color Echo' from Plant Delights another time - one day when we're feeling in a finicky sort of mood).

But the other November star is 'Niche's October Glow' , again from Niche Gardens. Two and a half inch single flowers are held in more open, rather tall heads - each ray is peachy pink fading faintly to yellow at the tips and with a neat yellow ring around the eye. Very pretty. Just one problem - not a flower on the plant is symmetrical, each has a petal or two which is a little longer than all the rest, or a few unusually wide spaces between the rays, so puncturing the elegance of each flower. Lovely color, valuably late – but flawed. Shame.

But hey... two perennials still in flower here on 1 December - excellent. And the Judy Barker, holder of the National Collection of these chrysanths in England, now has stock of these varieties so they should be available there before too long. And perhaps, there, and in zone 7 or 8 here in the US - they may be coaxed into flower for the holidays.