A Way To Garden

A Way To Garden

'horticultural how-to and woo-woo'
the source of organic gardening inspiration
margaret roach, head gardener

Menu
  • podcast
  • Plants
    • annuals & perennials »
      • groundcovers
    • bulbs
    • trees & shrubs »
      • conifers
      • deciduous
    • vines
    • vegetables
    • tomatoes
    • herbs
    • fruit
    • houseplants
    • taxonomy 101
    • decoding botanical latin
  • recipes
    • soups
    • entrees
    • side dishes
    • salads
    • desserts
    • pickles & condiments
    • freezing & canning
    • baking
    • guest chefs
  • how-to
    • weeds
    • pests & diseases
    • garden prep
    • composting
    • organics
    • pruning
    • garden design
    • from seed »
      • seed starting
    • water gardening
    • shade gardening
    • container gardening
    • lawn care (organic)
    • garden faq’s
    • for beginners
  • nature
    • bird sh-t
    • frogboys
    • insects & worms
    • jack the demon cat
    • mushrooms & other fungi
  • about
    • margaret and her website
    • my public-radio podcast
    • my 2018 garden events
    • my books
    • my email newsletter
    • my garden
    • horticultural ‘woo-woo’
    • sponsorship
    • resource links
  • Home
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Pintrest
    • Feed
    • Podcast
  • my books
  • 2019 garden events
  • when to start seed
  • webinars
  • monthly chores
  • garden faq’s
  • top-50
  • andre jordan doodles
  • slideshows
  • Garden Tools Co

if you only have one mum…

Share
Tweet
Pin21
21 Shares

mumBLASPHEMY, I KNOW, BUT I AM NOT MUCH OF A MUM TYPE. Ditto with roses: I might have two, but that’s about the sum of my interest (and twice the number I have of chrysanthemums). When so-called ‘Will’s Wonderful’ gets going around Halloween, though, I’m glad I’m not down to zero on the mum score. He’s a bawdy ending to a season here that had some pretty bawdy early acts, too.

I found ‘Will’ (along with many other good things over the years) at the now-closed Seneca Hill Perennials. Former owner Ellen Hornig dubbed the plant ‘Will’s Wonderful’ because it was given to her by someone named Will, not because either of them knows its actual name. (Update September 2011: As of fall 2009, Ellen was no longer selling it, so for awhile I suggested to readers that another pink, maybe ‘Cambodian Queen,’ from the selection at Lazy S’s might be one to consider. ‘Sheffield Pink,’ which they also have, is lovely, too, but not bawdy at all. In 2010, Lazy S’s added ‘Will’ to its collection–meaning ‘Will’ found a new retail home. Update 2019: Though Lazy S’s went out of business, Avant Gardens also started selling Will.)

What Ellen and I and Lazy S’s and Kathy Tracey of Avant Gardens all like about ‘Will’ is that he shows up extra-late, just when you have given up on anything daring to flower, and also the indescribable way he colors up and then fades: a sequence of shocking hues, one nicer than the next. Like I said, I can’t describe it, exactly, but it starts with red buds, opens to what you see above (a three-tone show of vivid pink, white and gold) and then proceeds to fade in the nicest way eventually, to a golden-straw color with a dark pink edge.  It does this evolution (devolution?) in the garden, and also in a vase.

The plant is one of the hardiest souls around my place, returning unfailingly year after year, and also one of the most enthusiastic. If 4 or 5 million of you need divisions, just let me know. (Kidding.)

Share
Tweet
Pin21
21 Shares

Related

Frog with headphones
Don’t Miss Out!

Get my award-winning podcast...

Listen on Apple Podcasts

...and my ribbiting free newsletter.

  • Select Seeds 500 flowers
33 comments
November 10, 2008

comments

  1. Judi Cabanaw says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    I don’t dig Mums, they never come back for me. I sit in the garden and pine away for them. Maybe this one would come back and make the other wise drab garden come to life a little before the snow flies. Might have to try again…..Roses too yep. They die before my eyes. I have a wild one that hasn’t died in 7 years but I usually make a wide path around it. afraid i might give it “bad juju”.

    Reply
  2. joyce says

    November 3, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    A friend gave me some a few years ago,,and they formed a lovely clump,,a little bent over from the snow but wonderful to see in bloom this time of the year,,we’re in central Mass.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      November 3, 2011 at 6:59 pm

      So glad you enjoy ‘Will,’ Joyce. Me, too! A wonderful plant (hence its name ‘Will’s Wonderful.’). :)

      Reply
  3. Arthur says

    October 1, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    ‘Sheffield Pink,’ here in North Carolina, grows about 2.5 feet tall and multiplies from underground roots very readily!

    Reply
« Older Comments

leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

facebook-1

Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

Margaret Recommends

My picks of garden gear, books, and mulch, mulch more, all things I use myself. (Disclosure: includes affiliate links.)

FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS

  • Brushwood Clematis
  • Avant Gardens rare plants

READ MY BOOKS?

  • margaret's latest book
  • Margaret's dropout memoir

RECENT FAVORITES

  • 10 top tips for growing root vegetables
  • direct sow or not, perennials from seed & more: q&a with ken druse
  • pollinator plants to make room for, with uprising seeds’ brian campbell
  • the february garden chores
  • when to start seed
  • seed-starting basics, a q&a with ken druse
  • it’s edemental! gorgeous, delicious grains for the garden, with sarah kleeger
  • how to grow root crops, with daniel yoder of johnny’s seeds
  • best garden design advice of 2018: signature style, making tapestries and more
  • spring will come (and so will my new old book, ‘a way to garden’)
Load More...Follow on Instagram

SEARCH ANY TOPIC

Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

  • © 2008-2019, Margaret Roach Inc.

  • contact
  • sponsorship
  • privacy policy
  • terms of use
built by WebDevStudios; design by Kenneth B Smith