Cheery, resilient and enduring, chrysanthemums remind cottage gardener Beth Tarling of the mindful and enterprising spirit of the post-war generation
Beth Tarling has hundreds of gardening books. Predominantly old with aged, browned pages that give off that evocative, musty aroma. She has all of Christopher Lloyd’s books, the full series of Mr Cuthbert’s Guide to Growing, and the hefty volumes of William Watson’s The Gardener’s Assistant, and regularly consults the ABC guides of no-dig pioneer WE Shewell-Cooper.
In her cottage garden in Gunwalloe on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, the most southern tip of the UK, flowers grow all year round. Daffodils give way to tulips, then rise lupins, roses, sweet peas and sweet Williams, followed by dahlias and gladioli. And, when the stellar summer stars have given up the ghost, early autumn sees true stalwarts take to the stage – cue the chrysanthemums. Some appear as early as July but now, advancing towards winter, there’s still a succession of chrysanthemums until first frosts call time. “When nothing else is in flower, I can rely on my chrysanthemums,” says Beth.
Chrysanthemums are reliable and hard-working, which is probably why they were the flowers of choice for a generation of gardeners enduring the hardship of post-war Britain. Between the end of the Second World War and the early 1950s, the National Chrysanthemum Society grew from 475 to 11,000 members, and gardens, allotments and flower shows were filled with the plants. Agatha Christie included the line ‘Oh what lovely chrysanthemums’ in her 1950 book A Murder is Announced, which inspired Beth to start growing them.
“I love them because they look old,” she says. “They remind me of my gran’s generation, when people made everything count. That era of gardening books was telling us what to do with chrysanthemums.” Beth’s friend Teddy encouraged her to buy a chrysanthemum at the Great Dixter plant fair about six years ago and she now has 20 cultivars. Another friend recently gave her C. ‘Daniel Cooper’, which produces sprays of single, mid-pink flowers with a yellow eye and had almost died out.
There is so little evidence of modern times on the road to Beth’s cottage through tiny, unspoiled hamlets, the view to the west filled with the blue of the Atlantic, that it could well be the 1950s. The feeling continues up the lane, past the white picket fence and into her garden, where a collection of home-made outbuildings, exuding a post-war charm, frame flowerbed upon flowerbed interspersed with patches of vegetables, cold frames, cloches and neatly arranged terracotta pots, divided by criss-crossing brick paths. At its centre, connected at a right angle to a potting shed, is Aunt Frieda’s 1950s Crittall greenhouse. When her aunt died, Beth couldn’t bear to see it torn down. “We dismantled it at her home in Hampshire and brought it to Cornwall,” she says. “My husband Dan rebuilt it.”
Beth hates waste and believes that chrysanthemums are part of that ethos. “They give you loads of flowers, they’re inexpensive, and they last well,” she says. “And they’re so easy – that’s the main reason I grow them. I can take a stem from a bouquet given to me, stick it in soil and it will root easily, which means I have no idea of the name of some of my plants. And I love the colours. People are so sniffy about yellow but what could be nicer? It’s so cheery. I also love a good old-fashioned orange. There’s a reason these plants were popular.”
Colours are key in this garden, which is divided according to the shades of the flowers. Her home and garden buildings are decorated with old, chintzy fabric. Flowerbeds that lead to the sheds reflect the fabric within – the Laura Ashley design in one, for instance, with its rusty oranges, apricots and golden yellows.
To ensure the correct colour goes in the correct plot, Beth grows newly acquired chrysanthemums in pots the first year to see what colour they come out. “A pink can turn out to be a purple, and a red can actually be more rusty,” she says. “Dan does all the watering and general maintenance, while I worry about whether a plant is pink or on the cusp of apricot.”
Another reason Beth favours chrysanthemums is their resilience. “It’s generally mild here but the wind is ferocious. Often you can’t open the door when there’s an easterly. A dahlia was ripped out, tuber and all, one August. Chrysanthemums are a good choice for an exposed garden. The stems are spindly and if one breaks, you can make a cutting.”
Battling with the wind for the eight years since she’s had the garden, Beth has recently planted hedging (Olearia traversiorum) recommended for coastal gardens. She’s also done huge amounts to improve the soil. “We’re mad about composting. We also go to a green waste company almost every week and fill the car with buckets of compost for the beds.” And if she’s ever in need of advice or a solution, on any topic from soil health to flower arrangements, Beth will simply turn to her great library.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Beth opens her garden, Garden Cottage in Gunwalloe, by arrangement for the NGS. See ngs.org.uk for details.
5 of Belle’s favourite chrysanthemums
1. Chrysanthemum ‘Allouise Orange’ is a splendid cut flower, has sturdy stems bearing large, rounded, golden-orange flowers with a cluster of magnificent, incurved petals. 1.2m.
2. Chrysanthemum ‘Red Regal Mist’ produces deep-red blooms in abundance. The weatherproof cultivar is considered an all-rounder and can be used for border, vase or show. For jumbo blooms up to 25cm in diameter, disbud by removing all the side shoots to create a single strong stem. 1.2m.
3. Chrysanthemum ‘Regal Mist Purple’ grows outdoors and displays a profusion of rich, purple-pink blooms. 1.2m.
4. Chrysanthemum ‘Alec Bedser’ is named after the 1950s English cricketer. Its bright-yellow flowers lift an arrangement in vintage flower-show vases alongside zingy dahlias.
5. Chrysanthemum ‘Allouise Pink’ is an early flowering chrysanthemum in a soft pink with incurving petals. Particularly good for the cutting garden. 1.2m. RHS H3†.
†Hardiness ratings given where available.
How to grow chrysanthemums
Some tips from the 1950s remain key to success
• Stopping (pinching out the growing tip) ‘Stopping is absolutely essential, if you want to grow bigger and better blooms either for the home or for your local show. ‘A chrysanthemum plant grown from a cutting sends up one straight stem, and if left to its own devices, it will produce a premature flower-bud, surrounded by several small side shoots. This is called the “break bud” and the side shoots are known as “breaks”. The break bud rarely develops into a flower and your object must be to encourage the “breaks” to develop and produce a strong, healthy plant. Stopping therefore consists of pinching out the useless break bud. ‘As soon as the break bud appears and is large enough to handle (ie when the plant is about 8in high), it must be removed, either with a pair of scissors or nipped out with the fingers.’
• Taking cuttings ‘By mid-February or early March new growth will have started from stools. Lift stools and select short, sturdy shoots for cuttings. Insert cuttings in compost in boxes or 3in pots. ‘Rooting takes place in about three weeks, and it is a sign that the cuttings are doing well when the tips begin to grow, and the leaves turn a healthy shade of green. ‘In about six weeks the cuttings should have rooted and started to grow on. They are then ready to be transplanted into 5in pots.’
Taken from Mr Cuthbert’s Guide to Growing Chrysanthemums, 1953.
Find more tips and details of suppliers at GI gardensillustrated.com/chrysanthemums