Chrysanthemums at Downton

We’ve been away for a week, and have returned to the most glorious sight in the garden at Downton Hall: two large beds spilling over with the heavy exuberant abundance of chrysanthemum ‘Anne Ratsey’ at the height of her powers. This is a hardy garden chrysanthemum, from a group of plants that is very tough and hardy, and which offer us something good and new to look forward to in the cold mists of autumn as most other flowers fade away. ‘Anne Ratsey’ is special because, as with our favourite red and white dahlia ‘York and Lancaster’, her flowers can be either lemon yellow, rich pink, or a sweetshop striped combination of the two. Most chrysanthemums are vigorous growers and consequently heavy feeders, but ’Anne Ratsey’ is a little hungrier than most. We initially started five or six years ago with two small plants, which quickly outgrew their little space in the flower bed. We noticed that the growth became weak and the plants were stunted, and rust started to appear on the leaves. Every year we divided the plants, moving them to ever bigger beds; any year when we didn’t divide enough, the plants suffered and the rust came back. This spring we dug out two thirds of the plants in these big beds, and the remaining plants have expanded joyously into the space. We also invested in strong chestnut stakes for these and some of our other big growing perennials, as we realised that our usual stock netting system just wasn’t strong enough for these giants. There are also two really beautiful chrysanthemums here from Norwell Nurseries in Nottinghamshire, both of a soft rusty red shade. The first is the tiny flowered ‘Helen Ward’, with neat little blooms densely packed with stiff small petals, displayed on wiry stems and producing an airy effect. The second is ‘Old Norwell’, with two or three rows of slender petals arranged around a yellow daisy-like disc, and often my favourite thing: a few little curled up twiddly petals just nestling at the centre. This lovely variety has strong but manageable growth and smells strongly and sweetly of honey.