{"id":15008,"date":"2022-10-04T15:21:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T13:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=15008"},"modified":"2022-10-04T15:21:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T13:21:35","slug":"old-fashioned-flair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/2022\/10\/04\/old-fashioned-flair\/","title":{"rendered":"Old-fashioned flair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cheery, resilient and enduring, chrysanthemums remind cottage gardener Beth Tarling of the mindful and enterprising spirit of the post-war generation <\/p>\n\n

WORDS ROSANNA MORRIS | PHOTOGRAPHS MARK BOLTON<\/p>\n\n

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A selection of pink chrysanthemums in one of Beth\u2019s garden buildings, where she also keeps some of her old gardening books. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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A group of chrysanthemum heads in shades of gold, bronze and a spectrum of yellows, companions in a section of Beth\u2019s garden inspired by a Laura Ashley fabric. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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\u2019s books, the full series of Mr <\/em>Cuthbert\u2019s <\/em>Guide <\/em>to <\/em>Growing, <\/em>and the hefty volumes of William Watson\u2019s The <\/em>Gardener\u2019s <\/em>Assistant, <\/em>and regularly consults the ABC guides of no-dig pioneer WE Shewell-Cooper. <\/p>\n\n

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 \u2013 cue the chrysanthemums. Some appear as early as July but now, advancing towards winter, there\u2019s still a succession of chrysanthemums until first frosts call time. \u201cWhen nothing else is in flower, I can rely on my chrysanthemums,\u201d says Beth. <\/p>\n\n

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 \u2018Oh what lovely chrysanthemums\u2019 in her 1950 book A <\/em>Murder <\/em>is <\/em>Announced, <\/em>which inspired Beth to start growing them. <\/p>\n\n

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Before finding the right spot in the garden, Beth tests an orange chrysanthemum in pots. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Ready to tend to the garden, Beth could almost be mistaken for a Second World War land girl as she steps out dressed for autumn\u2019s cooler temperatures.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

\u201cI love them because they look old,\u201d she says. \u201cThey remind me of my gran\u2019s generation, when people made everything count. That era of gardening books was telling us what to do with chrysanthemums.\u201d Beth\u2019s 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. \u2018Daniel <\/em>Cooper\u2019, which produces sprays of single, mid-pink flowers with a yellow eye and had almost died out. <\/p>\n\n

There is so little evidence of modern times on the road to Beth\u2019s 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\u2019s 1950s Crittall greenhouse. When her aunt died, Beth couldn\u2019t bear to see it torn down. \u201cWe dismantled it at her home in Hampshire and brought it to Cornwall,\u201d she says. \u201cMy husband Dan rebuilt it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Beth hates waste and believes that chrysanthemums are part of that ethos. \u201cThey give you loads of flowers, they\u2019re inexpensive, and they last well,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd they\u2019re so easy \u2013 that\u2019s 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\u2019s so cheery. I also love a good old-fashioned orange. There\u2019s a reason these plants were popular.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

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Beth rescued the old cold frame from a house in nearby Helston. \u201cI decided not to reglaze it as I love seeing the flowers poke up through it. If it were all glazed, it would look too new.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A selection of Beth\u2019s prized gardening books and ephemera alongside matching fabrics and flowers in another of her garden buildings.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Beckoning in the autumn sunshine, one of the garden outbuildings constructed from reclaimed materials perfectly complements the aged look of the choice of garden plants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Laura Ashley fabric in one of Beth\u2019s huts is beautifully reflected in the shades of her flowers.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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 \u2013 the Laura Ashley design in one, for instance, with its rusty oranges, apricots and golden yellows. <\/p>\n\n

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. \u201cA pink can turn out to be a purple, and a red can actually be more rusty,\u201d she says. \u201cDan does all the watering and general maintenance, while I worry about whether a plant is pink or on the cusp of apricot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Another reason Beth favours chrysanthemums is their resilience. \u201cIt\u2019s generally mild here but the wind is ferocious. Often you can\u2019t open the door when there\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Battling with the wind for the eight years since she\u2019s had the garden, Beth has recently planted hedging (Olearia traversiorum) <\/em>recommended for coastal gardens. She\u2019s also done huge amounts to improve the soil. \u201cWe\u2019re 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.\u201d And if she\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n

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Beth has a strong dislike of waste and hates to throw anything away. She will often take a chrysanthemum stem from a gifted bouquet and see if she can get it to root. As a result the names of several of the chrysanthemums she grows in her garden are a complete mystery to her.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Freshly harvested beetroots and chrysanthemums gathered in an old basket. Vegetables and flowers grow side by side in the pretty raised beds of Beth\u2019s Cornish garden where plant colours and companions are inspired by textiles.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

USEFUL INFORMATION<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Beth opens her garden, Garden Cottage in Gunwalloe, by arrangement for the NGS. See ngs.org.uk<\/a> <\/strong>for details. <\/p>\n\n

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5 of Belle\u2019s favourite chrysanthemums<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

1. Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Allouise Orange\u2019 is a splendid cut flower, has sturdy stems bearing large, rounded, golden-orange flowers with a cluster of magnificent, incurved petals. 1.2m.<\/p>\n\n

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2. Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Red Regal Mist\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n

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3. Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Regal Mist Purple\u2019 grows outdoors and displays a profusion of rich, purple-pink blooms. 1.2m.<\/p>\n\n

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4. Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Alec Bedser\u2019 is named after the 1950s English cricketer. Its bright-yellow flowers lift an arrangement in vintage flower-show vases alongside zingy dahlias.<\/p>\n\n

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5. Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Allouise Pink\u2019 is an early flowering chrysanthemum in a soft pink with incurving petals. Particularly good for the cutting garden. 1.2m. RHS H3\u2020<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n

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\u2020<\/sup>Hardiness ratings given where available. <\/p>\n\n

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How to grow chrysanthemums <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Some tips from the 1950s remain key to success <\/p>\n\n

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A newcomer to Beth\u2019s garden, Chrysanthemum<\/em> \u2018Regal Mist Purple\u2019 is grown in pots to see what shade of purple its blooms appear. Beth loves the nostalgic, old-fashioned qualities of these resilient plants. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

\u2022 Stopping (pinching out the growing tip) <\/strong>\u2018Stopping is absolutely essential, if you want to grow bigger and better blooms either for the home or for your local show. \u2018A 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 \u201cbreak bud\u201d and the side shoots are known as \u201cbreaks\u201d. The break bud rarely develops into a flower and your object must be to encourage the \u201cbreaks\u201d to develop and produce a strong, healthy plant. Stopping therefore consists of pinching out the useless break bud. \u2018As 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.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n

\u2022 Taking cuttings <\/strong>\u2018By 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. \u2018Rooting 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. \u2018In about six weeks the cuttings should have rooted and started to grow on. They are then ready to be transplanted into 5in pots.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n

Taken from Mr <\/em>Cuthbert\u2019s <\/em>Guide <\/em>to <\/em>Growing <\/em>Chrysanthemums, <\/em>1953. <\/p>\n\n

Find more tips and details of suppliers at GI gardensillustrated.com\/chrysanthemums<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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