Chrysanthemum indicum Citronella

Chrysanthemum x indicum 'Citronella' is a bright and floriferous garden chrysanthemum that offers radiant lemon-yellow daisies to brighten up beds and terraces in autumn. This perennial will quickly form a beautiful flowering clump for several weeks, until the first frosts, in any good garden soil. Hardy and long-lived, slowly spreading from its stump, this plant, sometimes known as autumn daisy, creates beautiful scenes with e.g. grasses and white asters.

Chrysanthemum x rubellum is an herbaceous and rhizomatous perennial plant with a woody stump, belonging to the Asteraceae family. It is a hybrid obtained by cross-breeding different species originating from East Asia (Chysanthemum.indicum) and Siberia (C.zawadskii). The 'Citronella' cultivar forms, from spring onwards, a 50-60 cm (20-24in) high and 50 cm (20in) wide shrub, composed of leafy and ramified woody stems at the base. Its growth is quite rapid. The flowering period extends from early September to late October-early November. The plant then produces numerous flowers gathered in flower heads, resembling daisies, semi-double, reaching 5 cm (2in) in diameter, grouped in small bouquets at the top of the leafy stems. The disc is yellow, the ligules on the periphery are bright lemon yellow. The leaves are triangular-ovate, roughly divided into 5 lobes and measure up to 5 cm (2in) long. They are toothed at the edges, dark green in colour, slightly dull, and hairy underneath. The above-ground vegetation dries out in winter and regrows in spring. Its very long-lived stump will last for a long time in the garden.

Garden chrysanthemums are of immense worth during a slightly less flowery time of the year, and their colours blend remarkably well with those of autumn. They can be associated with asters in complementary colours. Their flowering will be lightened by cosmos, shrubby salvias, and other gauras. These plants combine particularly well with grasses such as stipas, small miscanthus, eragrostis, and foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum). They can easily be grown in pots to decorate balconies and terraces and provide beautiful flowers for bouquets.