CHRYSANTHEMUMS 
CULTURAL NOTES 
May I present a few helpful notes regarding the cul- 
ture of Chrysanthemums. On receiving plants from 
the nursery special care should be taken for a few 
days until they become established in the pots or 
new location. 
SUMMER PRUNING OR STOPPING 
When the plant shows signs of becoming established 
in the new position, the growing tip should be re- 
moved, to induce branching. Generally, it is advis- 
able to pinch out the top of the shoot after three or 
four pairs of leaves have formed, but in the writer's 
garden experience even better results may be had 
by removing the tip after the second pair of leaves is 
mature. Three to five shoots will appear, which, in 
turn, should be stopped, to induce branching. 
The importance of this can not be overestimated. 
Only too often the garden chrysanthemums grown 
in small places are great sprawling plants, almost 
like shrubby climbers, which yield crooked stalks 
for cutting. A little experience will enable one to de- 
cide the best number of stoppings for each variety, 
as some branch freely with one or two stoppings, 
while others must be checked repeatedly. No pinch- 
ing out should be done after the middle of July, as 
this might bring the bloom too far into the autumn. 
Under this treatment plants will usually form broad, 
spreading bushes with erect, upright branches strong 
enough to bear the large flowers coming later. 



FERTILIZING 
From about the time of the last stopping, extra feed- 
ing can be given to advantage. As midsummer is 
also the time of greatest heat, extra water should be 
given if the soil is at all likely to dry out, and the 
surface should be thoroughly hoed, to insure a thick 
mulch. The soil should be watered before the fertil- 
izers are applied. This extra feeding is often omitted 
for the garden varieties, but usually is more than 
worth the trouble. In any case it should be stopped 
by the time the color commences to show in the 
flower buds. 

STAKING 
The period of midsummer growth is especially im- 
portant after the last stopping of growth has been 
made, for it is during this time that stakes should be 
driven beside those plants which grow so tall that 
their stems will not support them. A stake early in 
the summer will insure the erect growth of the flow- 
ering shoots, an item of no small importance when 
the blooms are cut. 
DISBUDDING 
The first bud produced by a chrysanthemum is 
called a “crown” bud. On the large-flowered varie- 
ties this is the bud which usually will produce 
the largest bloom. Almost as soon as it appears, 
branches grow from the axils of the topmost leaves. 
If the crown bud is to be saved, those must be re- 
moved at once. When they are removed, all the 
strength of the plant rises to the crown bud, giving 
it a great development. If it is not to be saved, and 
indeed in most of the garden varieties known to the 
writer it is often abortive, the shoots near it should 
remain. If a single flower is wanted, save but one; 
if many flowers are wanted, all should be kept. Each 
will develop and produce terminal buds in clusters 
of from three to six or seven. If the strongest one of 
these is saved, it will produce a large flower, but 
for garden decoration more should be saved, pro- 
ducing ‘‘sprays’ of bloom. 
The desirability of disbudding varieties of hardy 
chrysanthemums is largely a matter of personal 
taste. The writer prefers not to disbud any of the 
outdoor plants except some of the early-flowering 
commercial varieties of Chinese and Japanese sorts 
and members of the groups known in the trade as 
decorative and early-flowering chrysanthemums. 
The former are greatly helped by disbudding, and 
the latter produce moderate-sized flowers of great 
beauty, both in the garden and for cutting. 


SHELTERS 
By the time of flowering the season will have ad- 
vanced until there is a danger of frost. Chrysanthe- 
mum plants are quite frost hardy, but the half-open 
flowers, especially of white and pink varieties, are 
badly damaged. A certain amount of danger can be 
overcome by choosing portions of the garden where 
frosts do the least damage. The matter of artificial 
protection each person must decide for himself. Un- 
questionably it requires considerable labor to ‘pre- 
pare temporary shelter of any kind. Most commonly 
a frame is built over the bed on which hotbed sash 
can be laid for roofing and the sides covered with 
