Inexperienced flower growers believe that perennials are plants that are obviously intended for wintering without insulation and can easily tolerate cold weather. But those who value their autumn flower beds, you should definitely know how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter.
Similar beautiful flowering perennials really need special winter storage, otherwise by spring they will turn into stunted creatures.
Choosing a method for storing chrysanthemums in winter
There are two main ways to store color data in winter time: Either the bushes remain in the ground for the winter, or they are dug out of the ground and then kept indoors. Some gardeners choose one of these methods, others use both at once - to be on the safe side, leaving some plants in the soil and some in storage.
Criteria for choosing a storage method
To decide which option is best suited for certain chrysanthemums, let’s pay attention to two main criteria:
- Varietal features. For example, hybrids of Korean chrysanthemums easily survive cold winters with minimal insulation, while Indian analogues, which are heat-loving varieties, can be stored in the ground only in regions with warm winters.
- Climate. If the region is characterized by winters with heavy snowfalls, the flowers easily tolerate them even in severe cold. Loose snow insulates plant roots well and prevents them from freezing. Winter, wet or stingy with snowfall, is a real test for chrysanthemums: their roots will either rot or freeze.
Having decided on the choice of option, all that remains is to prepare the chrysanthemums for storage. We are preparing for the first light frosts, which occur in most regions in October or early November. During this time, the chrysanthemums will be sufficiently hardened.
Storing chrysanthemums after digging
Experienced flower growers Those involved in growing chrysanthemums recommend not relying on winter constancy, especially in places with an unstable climate, but storing flowers dug up. Moreover, such bushes become more powerful and hardy over the winter and bloom earlier than their non-dug counterparts.
If there is no way to monitor the condition of the flowers remaining in the ground, using the digging method you can keep this under control and at the first signs of infection or decay, take measures to improve the health of the plant.
Then the question will not arise, how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter, do you need to dig them up or cover them? The main thing is to provide them with a bright place for storage (without light, plants fade and weaken) with a temperature of 0 to 5 ° C in the form of a cellar, garage or basement.
How to store chrysanthemum in the cellar
- Storage in boxes. We dig up the plants cut off before the soil freezes, leaving stems 10-15 cm high, and put them in boxes, mixing peat and sand in equal parts. Before sending them to the cellar, we keep the boxes with flowers in the cold until the temperature drops completely: let them harden.
- Storage at earthen floor . The best option storage - cellar with earthen floor. We place the plants on this floor so that the soil does not allow the roots to dry out, and store them all winter.
The cellar is good for keeping chrysanthemums in winter because the cold enough temperature does not allow them to wake up ahead of time and protects their roots from overheating and freezing.
Storing chrysanthemums in the ground
Before the soil freezes, we prune the bushes, leaving stems about 15 cm high to indicate varieties. Next, select the most suitable option storing chrysanthemums in open ground.
Wintering under cover
For regions with capricious winters, we choose this method. Without waiting for winter, we install supports made of stone or brick around the plants, put boards on them, and on top - Lutrasil, Spunbond or other covering material so that air flows to the chrysanthemums: due to the greenhouse effect, the roots will rot.
Mulching
An excellent option for winter-hardy varieties and winters with heavy snowfalls. After the first frosts, we hill up the bushes, adding mulch from peat, humus, shavings, compost, sawdust, etc. If they come very coldy, cover the flowers with pine paws or twigs, and cover them with dry leaves.
Trench storage
- At the beginning of autumn, we dig a trench 50 cm deep in an elevated place where water does not linger.
- We put pine needles or dry sawdust on the bottom.
- After the first frost, we dig up flowers with a lump of earth and place them in a trench close to each other.
- We cover the shelter with dry, non-rotting boards and polyethylene to prevent moisture from entering.
Chrysanthemums stored using the trench method awaken early and sprout. In the spring, all that remains is to plant them in a suitable place.
These are all storage methods that answer the question “how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter” and are accessible even to novice gardeners. They allow you to preserve plants without loss in comfortable conditions.
The main thing is to avoid sudden changes in humidity and temperature levels, otherwise the roots may overheat, freeze, or become active too early.
There is a widespread belief that chrysanthemum is a capricious flower and its cultivation is a troublesome task. This statement is absolutely not true. To answer the question: how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter, you need to determine which garden group your chrysanthemum belongs to.
Korean or bush. This group of chrysanthemums is the most hardy, unpretentious and winter-hardy; for the similarity of their leaves to oak leaves, they are popularly called “oaks”. This group is ideal for beginner flower growers, and even minimal care will delight you with long and lasting flowering.
Indian or grandiflora. This group of chrysanthemums is a cut variety and the most labor-intensive to grow. To obtain large flowers, it requires shaping and constant care. Due to complex agricultural technology and low winter hardiness, it is very rare.
Globular or multiflora. A relatively new group of chrysanthemums, which quickly became widespread. Distinctive feature This group is genetically based on the spherical shape of the bush.
Preparing for winter
Regardless of which garden group your chrysanthemum belongs to at the end of August - September for successful wintering A number of preparatory activities should be carried out:
- Chrysanthemum bushes should be checked for the presence of pests and diseases and, if necessary, appropriate treatment should be carried out, because, as you know, strong and healthy plants will survive wintering better.
- Feed the bushes with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, for example, “Potassium Monophosphate,” which will increase the plants’ frost resistance.
- When a steady cold snap occurs, prune the plants, leaving stumps no more than 10 cm high.
Wintering
There are 3 options for wintering chrysanthemums: in open ground, basement or indoors.
Wintering in open ground. This wintering method is suitable only for winter-hardy varieties belonging to the group of Korean chrysanthemums.
After preliminary pruning, the bushes must be hilled on all sides. It is very important when performing this process to avoid the formation of pits in which water can accumulate.
Important! Water is the most terrible enemy of chrysanthemum bushes in the winter and spring. Its accumulation will cause the bushes to become wet and damp in the spring.
Many varieties of chrysanthemums successfully winter in the garden until spring under the snow without constructing additional shelter; it will only be enough to hill them up. But if your region is characterized by frosty winters with little snow, then for successful wintering you need to build a simple shelter.
To create a shelter, bricks are placed on the sides of the bush; if there are several bushes, then a whole row can be laid out of them. A wide board, a sheet of slate or iron is placed on top, which it is advisable to weigh down with something heavy to prevent the possibility of them being blown away by the wind. Thus, you have built a shelter that protects against water ingress and is well ventilated from the sides.
Many people use another method of covering plants for the winter. When stable frosty weather sets in, the bushes are covered with coniferous spruce branches or, in its absence, with tree branches, which are then covered with leaves. Can also be used for shelter artificial materials, for example "Spunbond".
Attention! Sawdust or peat cannot be used as a shelter, as they have the ability to accumulate and retain moisture, which will inevitably lead to damping off of the plants.
Wintering in the basement or cellar. This wintering method is suitable for heat-loving chrysanthemums belonging to the Indian or multiflora groups; it is also used for especially valuable varieties to eliminate the possibility of their loss.
When persistent frosts occur, the trimmed bushes are dug out of the garden and, together with a ball of earth, placed in boxes or pots, which for further storage are placed in a basement or cellar, where a low positive temperature is maintained throughout the winter.
Attention! With this method of storage, bushes are very often affected by various rots, so they must be periodically inspected and, if necessary, appropriately treated with fungicides.
Wintering indoors. This wintering method is used mainly for late-flowering varieties from the Indian and spherical groups, which do not have time to open their buds in open ground conditions.
When the first frost occurs, these varieties are dug out of the garden, placed in containers of suitable size and transferred to a bright, cool room. Globular chrysanthemums look especially beautiful in pots.
After flowering ends, watering is reduced, the plants are pruned, and for further wintering, the pots with plants are placed in a place with a temperature no higher than 5 degrees.
Attention! Chrysanthemum necessarily requires a period of rest at low temperatures. If this condition is not met, the plants become depleted and do not bloom as profusely.
Many gardeners are put off by the need to harvest chrysanthemum roots for the winter. But the same dahlias or gladioli, widespread in gardens, also require annual digging and storage. low temperatures Moreover, chrysanthemum planting material is stored much better than tubers that are always rotting.
Regardless of which storage method you choose, none of them will give a 100% guarantee that the roots will be preserved until spring. To preserve the most valuable varieties, experienced flower growers use a combined wintering method: some of the bushes are covered and left in the open ground, while others are dug up.
Your brownie.
Chrysanthemums are those flowers that continue to delight us with their unpretentious beauty until late autumn, when all the other plants have surrendered to the onset of coolness. How chrysanthemums overwinter and whether chrysanthemums overwinter in open ground at all - you will learn from this article.
Frost-resistant varieties of chrysanthemums
In pursuit of large-flowered varieties and breeding them for commercial purposes, people over time have come to appreciate the resistance of some varieties to frost. Thus, gradually Korean chrysanthemums managed to displace many other species and take a leading position not only in frost resistance, but also in early dates flowering, color, shape, size of flowers.
Here are the main varieties of chrysanthemums that winter in open ground:
- "Oak";
- "Korean";
- "Chamomile";
- "Purple Haze";
- "Malchish-Kibalchish";
- "Red Moscow";
- "Everest".
Preparing frost-resistant chrysanthemums for wintering
Despite their exceptional frost resistance, chrysanthemums overwintering in the ground still need proper preparation for winter period. This is especially true for the middle and northern regions, where weather more severe.
Preparation of chrysanthemums for wintering should begin in late August-early September. They definitely need to be fed phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which help to increase the frost resistance of plants.
As is known, than healthier plant, the better it winters. Therefore, regularly inspect your bushes for various diseases to take action in time.
Before wintering, all chrysanthemums must be cut at a height of 10 cm from the ground. This should be done with the onset of persistent cold weather. Then the bushes need to be well hilled on all sides, without leaving holes around in which water could accumulate, causing the plants to get wet.
Many winter well without additional shelter, but in conditions 
In winters without snow, even the most frost-resistant varieties can freeze. To avoid this, it is better to additionally cover your flower garden with spruce branches or dry foliage. However, this should be done only after the onset of stable frosts. Otherwise, the plants may dry out. Light frost, on the contrary, is beneficial for chrysanthemums, hardening them and making them stronger and healthier.
Another covering option is to construct a “roof” from slate or iron sheets. To do this, you need to lay several layers of bricks around the flowerbed, lay a sheet of iron or slate on them, which will protect the chrysanthemums from moisture, but not interfere with normal ventilation. Such shelter is optimal for the safe wintering of plants in open ground.
It's nice to grow wonderful chrysanthemums in the garden and enjoy their beauty. But you also need to be able to preserve your favorite plants until the next season.
There are many ways to organize wintering of chrysanthemums; I'll tell you mine.
I make trenches (20 cm) in the garden, put rotted humus there, lightly sprinkle it with earth, and place chrysanthemum queen cells on top. I fill them with soil according to the soil level. I write down row N and grade in a notebook.
When the cold weather begins, I cover the chrysanthemum queen cells with various insulating materials - sawdust, leaves, shavings. Manure provides warmth, and in the spring it also provides feeding.
I cover the tops of chrysanthemums covered for the winter with Lutrasil.
Anzhelika Vladimirovna Karapetyan
Peter Kiselev’s advice on storing Korean chrysanthemums in the garden and accelerating propagation:
October - time lush flowering Korean chrysanthemums in the garden, as well as time to take care of accelerated breeding and good wintering of these wonderful plants. After all, for us, flower growers, it is very important to reliably preserve the valuable mother bushes of our favorite chrysanthemums in winter and at the same time increase planting material. This is where the method of mass reproduction I use will help you. best hybrids and varieties of Korean chrysanthemums.
1. Dig up beautiful, strong and healthy Korean chrysanthemum bushes with a lump of earth.
Root system These plants have a weak, short rhizome. The underground shoots of the Korean chrysanthemum branch weakly, and the roots go down to a depth of about 25 cm.
2. Place (yes, exactly, place) each bush in pre-prepared trenches at an angle. In this case, the rhizome of the chrysanthemum bush itself should be buried on the bayonet of the shovel. A top part bush with flowering shoots and apical leaves should be located above the ground.
3. Bury the chrysanthemum bushes placed in the trenches flush with the main soil.
4. Water the entire buried area generously and then mulch the plantings with dry peat or loose humus.
5. When stable, significant frosts set in (-7...-9 degrees), lightly cover the buried bushes of Korean chrysanthemums with previously prepared dry fallen leaves of trees. But don’t get carried away with this, so that under a too thick “blanket” of foliage, the branches of chrysanthemums do not become trapped without access to air - this typical mistake beginning flower growers.
6. In spring, remove the winter shelter of chrysanthemums, and leave the bushes sprinkled with earth
leave it as it is.
7. When the bushes of buried chrysanthemums begin to grow again, then all
the area sprinkled with earth around them will be covered with a continuous “carpet” of young shoots!
Now you need to very carefully free the buried chrysanthemum bushes from the ground. You will see that young shoots have appeared from each internode on the branches of chrysanthemums, and they already have decent roots!
8. Take a sharp pruner and quickly and carefully cut the resulting young chrysanthemum seedlings with an excellent root system.
9. Plant the resulting bushes at intervals of 35x35 cm or 40x40 cm in advance
prepared sunny place. Chrysanthemums are very fond of fertile and light non-acidic loams.
These ten steps to speed up reproduction and successful cultivation Korean chrysanthemums will allow you to get an abundance of quality planting material with guaranteed survival rate, which will actively develop and will soon delight you with their flowering.
Chrysanthemums have long fascinated me with their endurance. In the fall, when I visited our friends’ garden, I couldn’t take my eyes off the plants that were blooming in spite of the bad weather. They had only two types - yellow in the shape of daisies and pink terry.
But the plants grew well, and the friends planted several bushes in different parts of the garden. The effect was wonderful - as if it was not autumn in the yard, but summer.
Then we got our own garden, and my friends gave me a couple of bushes. This is how I got my first chrysanthemums.
Later I tried to purchase other varieties. And I was often wrong. In the Moscow region, where our garden is located, they sell a lot different varieties, including those that can only be grown in a greenhouse. Basically, these are large-flowered chrysanthemums with a flower diameter of more than 10 cm. They do not bloom in the ground. Sometimes the bush will fill with a lot of buds, but it’s just cold here. He should go to Japan, for the Chrysanthemum Festival. These plants are not for us.
Then I decided to act for sure. In the fall, I looked for aunties at the market who sell bushes along with flowers. These varieties are definitely from our area, and since they have flowers, it means they have time to bloom.
There is one drawback to this method. Housewives often do not know the varieties or call similar flowers known varieties. For example, I have three white chrysanthemums named Umka. But I doubt whether there is a “real” Umka among them. For me this is not the main thing. It is important for me that the chrysanthemums have time to bloom before the snow.
Planting chrysanthemums in the fall is, of course, risky. Weakened by flowering, they may freeze. I had to insulate them like roses. She covered it with spruce branches, placed a fruit box, and on top - lutrasil or spunbond.
This did not always help, and the plants froze. I wasn't too worried. This means that these are not very hardy chrysanthemums. And I needed “our” reliable ones. Let them be called “Korean”, but they are already acclimatized.
Sometimes I bought bushes too late, when it was already snowing. And the grannies with chrysanthemums in baskets reminded me of the fairy tale “12 months”, when the flowers bloomed in winter.
But you can no longer plant in the snow. Even with shelter, the plants will not survive the winter, because they will not have time to take root in the cold soil.
I let these roots go into the cellar for the winter. She put them in a basin and filled the voids with soil. In winter, when I took out jars of pickles, I checked my chrysanthemums. Occasionally I “watered” them with snow.
In March, I took the roots out of the cellar for germination and placed them in a bright place. I planted it in the garden in May. I watered it abundantly and fed it once a month. With frequent feeding, chrysanthemums fatten and later lay buds.
IN Middle lane In Russia, small-flowered chrysanthemums with early and medium flowering periods winter best. The small size of the flowers is more than compensated for by their abundance.
The choice of varieties in the markets is small. It is not possible to find a new color every year. And yet, I already have seven reliable varieties. Although only three varieties can be called, others are unnamed or “doubtful.” But they are “ours”, proven - they spend the winter in the open ground.
I am currently digging up three more varieties for the winter. I'm afraid of losing them. These include the Zhemchuzhina variety. They say it is winter-hardy. But I want to check it in our conditions. When I propagate, I will conduct an experiment: I will send one part of the plant to storage, and leave the other in the ground.
I propagate chrysanthemums by dividing the bush and cuttings. I start cuttings in the spring, when the young shoots have grown to 5-7 cm. I carefully break them out at the base and plant them in the soil. I pour a 2 cm layer of sand on top. I cover it with a jar.
Over the years of growing chrysanthemums, I have accumulated quite a bit of experience. I want to give some more advice.
1. Chrysanthemum does not tolerate shade at all. Even slight shading during the day will delay flowering.
2. Chrysanthemum - flower short day, that is, it begins to flower when daylight hours decrease. Many people understand this incorrectly and plant the plant in the shade, where there is less light. This is mistake! Shadow is not a short day at all, but a lack of lighting.
3. Chrysanthemums do not like wet, heavy soil. I shared flowers with my friends who have just such soil. With the same care in the summer, their chrysanthemums froze. This means that clay creates unfavorable conditions for wintering. The soil needs to be seriously loosened.
VARIETIES FOR THE MIDDLE BAND
Talisman, Copper Thunder, Lucy, Youth; Malchish-Kibalchish, Evening Lights, Gypsy, Korean Girl, Radiant, Svemba Kare, Radiant, Alexandrite, Flamingo, Swan Song, First Snow; Petrukha, Pearl, Helen, Orange Sunset, Isabel, The Cherry Orchard, Evgenia Grande, Evelyn Bush, Syaivo, Golden Autumn.
4. Covering chrysanthemums with film will most likely lead to their death. They will simply get wet under it. If you want to be on the safe side, mulch with soil and leaves (preferably forest leaves). Or cover with a box and spunbond, as described above. There must be air under the shelter. I do not cover my chrysanthemums (7 varieties). For the winter I just mulch the roots with soil.
5. Chrysanthemums need to be replanted every three years. They can be divided or simply planted deeper. Young plants overwinter better. Transplantation should be carried out only in the spring, when young shoots appear from the ground.
6. If you bought a chrysanthemum late, then do not plant it, but put it in the basement. But don't water the roots in the cellar! It is necessary to moisten the earthen ball minimally, otherwise the bushes will begin to grow. The shoots become elongated and the plant dies from exhaustion. For the same reason, it is difficult to preserve chrysanthemums at home, at room temperature.
7. After a bad winter, chrysanthemums lag behind in growth and do not have time to bloom. And for a good winter you need to take into account rules 1 - 6.
G.P. Safonov, Moscow region.