Chrysanthemum 'Lavira Red'

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  The RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) helps gardeners choose the best plants for their garden.
• 
  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 well-drained, fertile, moisture-retentive soil in full sun. In cool regions, lift the plants in autumn, before the first frosts and store the crowns in trays of just moist compost in frost-free conditions until spring. In areas where temperatures fall no lower than -5˚C (23˚F) in winter, plants may be left in the ground and protected by a thick mulch over winter, carefully removing this in spring, after the risk of frosts has passed. See chrysanthemum cultivation for further advice

Propagation

Propagate by basal softwood cuttings from overwintered stools in late winter or early spring. Cuttings should be rooted in a loamless compost the surface of which is covered with dry sand and kept in a temperature of 16°C. Place in a cold frame after first rooting and protect from frost. Harden off in mid spring. Established clumps may be propagated by division in spring

Suggested planting locations and garden types

• City and courtyard gardens
• Cottage and informal garden
• Patio and container plants
• Cut flowers
• Flower borders and beds
• Wall side borders

Pruning

Once flowering is over in late autumn, cut the whole plant down to 20cm (8in) tall

Pests

May be susceptible to capsid bug, earwigs, chrysanthemum eelworm, aphids, chrysanthemum leaf miner and red spider mite

Diseases

May be susceptible to powdery mildews, virus diseases, grey moulds and chrysanthemum white rust