A Really Late Bloomer: Chrysanthemum "Emperor of China."

[leene_chan]

Chrysanthemum "Emperor of China.", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

This is actually a Chinese chrysanthemum, not Japanese like I said previously. It bloomed for the first time today, on October 20!

I never knew that a flower could bloom so late. It's a very pretty flower in person with a nice peppery fragrance. Unfortunately, it has an awkward, gangly habit and the bunnies like to snack on it! Just the same, I might get another one of these next year. How many flowers can you find that bloom in mid-October?

Well, "Julia Child" is still producing beautiful flowers with only a tiny amount of non-deforming insect damage. Besides our mini rosebush "Sunny Kordana" it's the only rose we have that hasn't been bugged by thrips. Unfortunately, it has blackspot like whoa.