What temperature can chrysanthemums withstand without shelter? Stages of preparing chrysanthemums for winter, which shelter is better. Planting in open ground

Many gardeners are often interested in how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter. Most varieties of these flowers have good cold resistance and can overwinter directly in the flowerbed. However, for the winter, some varieties need to be dug up and stored in a basement or cellar. In total, there are four ways to winter chrysanthemums, which we will talk about.

Preparation of chrysanthemums for wintering begins in the fall, when the first slight frosts have already occurred. In the middle zone, the first frosts occur already in October, and sometimes at the beginning of November. This criterion depends on the climatic characteristics of the growing region. The main thing is that the plant must be hardened.

Prepare the bushes as follows:

Further work continues only before the soil freezes directly. At this time, the bushes need to be trimmed so that “stumps” 10–20 cm high remain. This height is convenient for making varietal designations.

Video “Preserving chrysanthemums in winter”

From this video you will learn how to properly preserve chrysanthemums in winter.

Wintering in the ground

Since chrysanthemums are perennial flowers, they have good cold resistance. Therefore, garden soil is a normal wintering environment for such plants. However, in order to preserve flowers in open ground, it is necessary to take some steps to protect them from the cold.

• mulching;
• shelter;
• trenches.

Let's look at each option in more detail.

Mulching

This method is suitable for varieties that are highly cold-resistant. When the first frost occurs, it is necessary to hill up the bushes. For this you can use shavings, sawdust, humus, compost, peat, etc.

If the region is characterized by frosty winters, then the plants must be covered with spruce branches or branches, which should be sprinkled with dry leaves on top.

Shelter

This wintering method is considered more reliable than mulching, so it is usually used in areas with harsh winters.

In autumn, supports should be installed around chrysanthemums. Ordinary bricks can play their role. Slate or board is placed on top of the supports. On top of this structure is covered with a covering material, which must be fixed. You can cover the flowers with spruce branches or special materials (for example, lutrasil or spandbond).

It is worth noting that such a shelter must be ventilated. Otherwise, the chrysanthemum may die during the cold period due to the accumulation of excess moisture inside such a structure.

The shelter is dismantled in the spring, when the night frosts have already passed and the weather is relatively warm outside. If the risk of frost returning is high, then a plastic bag is placed over the plants.

Trenches

Another way to winter chrysanthemums is in a trench. The method involves digging a ditch 70 cm wide and deep. The length of the trench is determined by the number of bushes that need to be protected from the cold.

It is worth noting that until the first frost appears, the plants are stored open. They are covered only after a significant cold snap. After frost, roofing felt/slate is covered with sawdust, dry leaves or peat. The bulk layer must have a thickness of at least 50 cm. A plastic film is installed on top of the embankment.

Of all the options, this method is the most labor-intensive. You can remove flowers from such trenches for planting when good weather in the spring has settled and the ground has warmed up sufficiently.

Digging

In autumn, chrysanthemum bushes are dug out of the ground. To protect seedlings from rotting, they must be treated with a fungicide. After this, the chrysanthemums are placed in the basement, garage, veranda or cellar.

For effective storage, these rooms must be within a certain temperature range (0...+5 °C). If the temperature is higher, then the flowers will “wake up” ahead of time. However, the humidity should not be high, otherwise the plants may begin to rot. There should also be lighting in the room - without light, chrysanthemums are depleted.

The dug up chrysanthemums just need to be laid out on the floor, from where the flowers will take the necessary moisture to survive until spring.

You can store flowers in boxes into which peat and sand have previously been poured (proportion 1:1). Seedlings can also be planted in a pot.

There is no need to bring plants into the cellar immediately after digging them up. Chrysanthemums should be left in the cold for a while so that they can harden.

It is important to know when to take out chrysanthemums after winter. Usually, flowers begin to be taken out of the cellar in the spring, when the weather outside is warm enough.

If chrysanthemums were stored correctly, the flowers will quickly take root in the open ground and bloom.

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 flowering, color, shape, and 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 the winter period. This is especially true for the middle and northern regions, where weather conditions are more severe.

Preparation of chrysanthemums for wintering should begin in late August-early September. They must be fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which help to increase the frost resistance of plants.

As you know, the healthier the plant, the better it overwinters. Therefore, regularly inspect your bushes for various diseases in order 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.

There is a widespread belief that the 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 gardeners, and even with minimal care it 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. A distinctive feature of this group is the genetically determined spherical shape of the bush.

Preparing for winter

Regardless of which garden group your chrysanthemum belongs to, at the end of August - September, for a successful wintering, a number of preparatory measures 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, slate or iron sheet 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. You can also use artificial materials, such as spunbond, for shelter.

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 at low temperatures, especially since chrysanthemum planting material can be 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 open ground, while others are dug up.

Your brownie.

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 is the time of lush flowering of Korean chrysanthemums in the garden, as well as the time to take care of the 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 my method of mass propagation of the best hybrids and varieties of Korean chrysanthemums will help you.

1. Dig up beautiful, strong and healthy Korean chrysanthemum bushes with a lump of earth.

The root system of these plants is not strong, the rhizome is short. 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. And the upper part of the 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 is a typical mistake of novice gardeners.

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 covered 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 for accelerated propagation and successful cultivation of Korean chrysanthemums will allow you to obtain an abundance of high-quality planting material with guaranteed survival rate, which will actively develop and will soon delight you with its flowering.

Chrysanthemums in Russian gardens with different climatic conditions.
Winter-hardy chrysanthemums are not very afraid of cold weather, but are more afraid of getting wet.

If the winter has a lot of thaws or rain, then there is a greater chance that the chrysanthemum wintering in the open ground will die.

Many gardeners leave their chrysanthemums in the ground in the fall. Some additionally cover chrysanthemum bushes to protect them from the cold. Someone digs up their favorite chrysanthemums and puts them in the cellar for the winter. Some people prefer chrysanthemum mother plants. Each gardener adapts to preserving his chrysanthemums in winter based on the climatic conditions of the garden and personal preferences.

In the photo: Korean chrysanthemum varieties “Vyshyvanka”, “Key Largo”

The most important rule for covering chrysanthemums in the garden: cover the plants late - in case of frost; and we open it early so that the chrysanthemum bushes do not get steamy under cover.

Chrysanthemums should be covered no earlier than the soil begins to freeze.
Cut off the chrysanthemum branches and place a low box on the bush. If the box is foam plastic, then you don’t have to cover the chrysanthemum with anything else.
The good thing about a foam box is that when properly covered (that is, on frozen soil), it works like a thermos, and in the event of a thaw, it does not allow heat to pass through to the wintering chrysanthemum bush. This is especially important for those regions where winter frosts often alternate with thaws.

If there is no foam box, then you can use any suitable box to cover the chrysanthemum.
The point of such a shelter is to ensure that there is sufficient air space above the wintering chrysanthemum bush.
If snow has already fallen, then such shelter will be enough.

If there is no snow, and the frosts are getting stronger, then throw all the plant debris that is at hand (fallen leaves, straw, sawdust, etc.) onto the box above the covered chrysanthemum. And then you cover it all with a bag. It is better to take white woven synthetic bags for flour, sugar or cereals, which, unlike plastic film, allow air to pass through.

In the spring, melt water should not accumulate in the place where chrysanthemums are planted.
Chrysanthemums are more afraid of dampness than frost. Therefore, make drainage for chrysanthemum bushes and build drainage grooves.
If your site is located in a lowland, then in order to avoid waterlogging of the soil, it is better to immediately plant chrysanthemums on the ridges.

In the photo: multiflora chrysanthemums of the varieties “Chelsey Coral”, “Miasto Orange”

Wintering experience of chrysanthemum multiflora

On the website website
on the website website
on the website website

Weekly Free Site Digest website

Every week, for 10 years, for our 100,000 subscribers, an excellent selection of relevant materials about flowers and gardens, as well as other useful information.

Subscribe and receive!