Chrysanthemum 'Long Island Beauty' (6b)

• 
  RHS Plants for Pollinators plants

  This plant will provide nectar and pollen for bees and the many other types of pollinating insects.

  It is included in an evolving list of plants carefully researched and chosen by RHS experts. Divided into 3 groups these lists, linked below, are maintained by a team of RHS staff and are reviewed annually.

  • Garden Plants
  • Wildflowers
  • Plants of the World

Cultivation

Grow in a rich, fertile, moist but well-drained soil in sun in glasshouse border or containers of peat-free John Innes Number 3 compost. Plants can be grown outdoors in summer and brought into a cool greenhouse in early September. Blooms are produced in October to November, extending into December and so need protection from frosts in a temperate or warm greenhouse. They are grown either as disbudded or non-disbudded forms. Disbuds have all of the flower buds on each shoot removed except for the terminal bud so causing a much larger bloom to be produced than is usual. Up to 6 shoots are allowed to develop per plant, each bearing a single flower. Non-disbudded chrysanthemums are permitted to develop freely, with up to 6 stems per plant, each bearing 5 or more flower heads. The central bud of each spray is removed to give a more rounded outline

Propagation

Propagate by rooting softwood cuttings in peat-free potting compost at 16°C in spring. Pot on rooted cuttings in late June to early July into 23cm pots and pinch out as soon as established

Suggested planting locations and garden types

• Patio and container plants
• City and courtyard gardens
• Coastal
• Cottage and informal garden
• Banks and slopes
• Flower borders and beds

Pruning

Cut back to near ground level in the autumn, before lifting and storing for the winter

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids and leaf miners which are common pests. Leaf and bud eelworms can damage stock that has not been heat-treated. Earwigs sometimes damage blooms. Capsid bug and glasshouse red spider mite are occasional pests

Diseases

May be susceptible to glasshouse grey mould, powdery mildews and chrysanthemum white rust