CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



INTRODUCTION 



BY THOMAS STEVENSON 



THE Chrysanthemum must always occupy a prominent 

 position in gardens, if only because it commences to 

 flower at a season when many other classes of plants are 

 beginning to lose their summer beauty. But there are 

 other points to the credit of Chrysanthemums, namely, 

 the ease with which they are grown and the long season 

 over which the flowers last, a period which extends from 

 August until February. 



It would be difficult to imagine a flower that could 

 challenge the position our Autumn Queen now holds at 

 any time between the two dates named. This much may 

 be said, although the cultivators of Perpetual-flowering 

 Carnations claim that their favourites will cause Chrys- 

 anthemums to be grown less frequently a claim that will 

 not be realised in the near future. 



The Carnation has many virtues, but it cannot hold 

 its head up (without support) during the dull days of an 

 English winter, even when cultivated in ideal houses, 

 whereas the Chrysanthemum succeeds in making a show 

 in conditions far from the best, and it is so hardy that it 



A 



