Chrysanthemums: How can I keep them flowering every year?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

QUESTION

I’m sending this query on behalf of my mother: She was wondering if it is possible to keep supermarket-bought chrysanthemums growing from year to year, or do they last for one year only?

 

ANSWER

Most shop-bought chrysanthemums are grown from cuttings, with often four or five per pot. Yes, they will survive from year to year but will need to be treated as an indoor plant. 

They have been, most likely, grown in artificial conditions under glass, and stocked in a centrally heated supermarket under artificial lights. 

Leave them to flower and die back indoors and keep them inside over the winter.

Depending on the type of chrysanthemum — and there are many — they may be OK to be left outside once risk of frost has passed next spring. They can be allowed to flower outdoors next summer/autumn as they will have acclimatised at that stage but they will need to brought in for the winter once more.

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