A Transatlantic chrysanthemum

Back in England, and this trip’s first visit to the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley today... and what do I find – under the dark and drizzly skies? A chrysanthemum from Illinois.

I acquired ‘Will’s Wonderful’ from Ellen Hornig at Seneca Hill Perennials in New York. She got it from Will Forster who rescued it from his grandmother’s Illinois garden. I then passed some on to Judy Barker, the holder of the British National Collection of Korean, Rubellum and Hardy Spray Chrysanthemums; she gave stock to Wisley. And today, on 13 November, at Wisley - it’s at its peak. The other chrysanths are mostly cut down for the winter but ‘Will’s Wonderful’, with its billows of single, pink-tipped, white flowers proves that it’s worth a place in any garden. It was doing even better here than back in our Pennsylvania garden.

If this isn’t an RHS Award of Garden Merit Plant…

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