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Mum's The Word

Chosen well and placed right, they'll brighten our autumn gardens

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ILLUSTRATED BY SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES C. ‘Buckeye’ ILLUSTRATED BY SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES C. ‘Robin’ ILLUSTRATED BY SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES Chrysanthemum rubellum ‘Mary Stoker’

FOR YEARS, my image of chrysanthemums seemed forever stuck in time. At first I could think only of those bygone high-school football-game corsages; then it was those stiff, skinny stems that poked unattractively out of cellophane wrapping at the grocery store. But my interest finally fired up recently when I saw mums in an Asian setting — which seems fitting since they've been used to great effect for centuries in China and Japan.

Last year when I visited the Portland Classical Chinese Garden (Northwest Third and Everett streets, 503-228-8131, www.portlandchinesegarden.org), I was struck by the beauty of fiery chrysanthemums in dark urns near the entrance. Held aloft in the tall pots, their spidery flowers were both exotic and familiar. Highly bred and celebrated for thousands of years in China and Japan, mums are the stuff of art, flower competitions and fabric decoration. The prized flowers show up everywhere from bonsai to embroidered kimonos.

Here, they've been relegated to a basket on the front porch for a month in October, then tossed in the compost. Or even worse, stuck hastily into beds and borders to fill blank spots late in the season, where their fat, cushiony blossoms look as awkward as if they took a wrong turn and really belong in Las Vegas.

But since we have such a long autumn gardening season in the Northwest, chrysanthemums are worth a second look as perennials. If you can get past the lumpy pots of graceless plants displayed as impulse items, and the long-stemmed showgirls raised for competition and cut flowers, a world of mums is out there to brighten the garden in the waning months of the year. Which chrysanthemums are reliably perennial and, despite their showy looks, able to integrate comfortably into a border?

When searching out garden-worthy chrysanthemums, think about the shape of the plant as much as the color of the bloom. Looser, bushier shapes and smaller daisy-like flowers usually indicate perennial mums that will fit in well with other garden flowers. Don't be intimidated by confusing nomenclature: Any plant this highly bred for so many years has an intricate web of confusing name changes.

Mums need as much full sun as you can give them, regular watering and good drainage to make it through the winter. Pinch back the flower buds in spring when 6 inches tall, and then every three weeks or so until late summer. The taller varieties need unobtrusive staking, or plant them along a wall or edge of a border where they can tumble picturesquely. Be prepared to divide the clumps every two to three years so they don't get too woody and continue to bloom well.

Mums make ideal cut flowers to fill vases indoors through November. They're ideal for setting off arrangements of autumn leaves and berries, but they're colorful enough to stand alone in a big metal or wooden vase. A fat spray of mums, with stem ends crushed and lower leaves removed, will last for a week when plunged quickly into fresh, cool water. My favorite for this is Chrysanthemum rubellum 'Mary Stoker' with its cheerful, fragrant yellow single flowers that seem to stave off winter for a while yet.

Other good perennial garden chrysanthemums include:

C. rubellum 'Clara Curtis,' single pink daisies centered in yellow

C. yezoense clusters of small, white flowers, likes hot, dry locations

C. 'Buckeye,' hot red flowers with bright yellow eyes, does well in containers

C. 'Bienchen,' a quintessential mum with fat golden pom-pom flowers

C. 'Sheffield,' single salmon-pink flowers

C. 'Herbstrubin,' deep crimson-colored double flowers

C. rubellum 'Goldengreenheart,' antique gold flowers centered with a green eye

C. 'Tracy,' fluffy white semi-double flowers

C. 'Robin,' pom-pom flowers in bright bronze

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Susan Jouflas is The Seattle Times assistant art director for features.