Kiss the Earth

This morning I visited the Burpee Company's Fordhook Farm outside Doylestown, where research director Grace Romero and I dodged raindrops while touring the farm's many gardens. They have fun names like "Happiness Garden" and "Nook Garden," "Icehouse Garden" and "Veranda Garden."

It was in the "Happiness Garden," appropriately enough, that I found a plant that even I, a hardened mum-hater, could love. I hate to be so strident. It isn't all mums I dislike, just the endless rows of identically mounded, predictably colored, not-really-hardy mums that are foisted on American consumers every year at this time. They're so boring! And they don't last.

But you should see the the chrysanthemum known as 'Sheffield pink' growing along the borders of Fordhook Farm's "Happiness Garden." Billowing waves of salmon pink or apricot pink, whatever's your fancy, mums, all without mildew, blooming up a storm. These beds, Grace said, were four years old - and still looking fresh.

I'm a huge fan of asters, and noticed just this morning that a climbing aster I bought last spring was begining to bloom. It's staked on one of those cool curlicue stakes, its branches outstretched like welcoming arms and covered with tiny pink buds. The next few days should be fun ones for this plant.

But 'Sheffield pink" is a keeper of a chrysanthemum. It reminds me of both a delicate daisy and a great big aster, and it sounds as tough and resiliant as those two. It does great in average soil, like most plants likes good drainage, and grows best in full sun. It gets about 3 feet high and blooms well into fall - even after a light frost.

And what a payoff. Grace thinks it's a wonderful perennial that more consumers would like if they only knew about it. Apparently this flower has been used in European gardens for some time.

At this time of year, any plant that has color and isn't shriveled up or reduced to lace curtains by bugs is a plus in my book. Imagine having waves of 'Sheffield pink' outside your kitchen!

Through the miracle of reclassification, its correct botanical name is Dendranthemum 'Sheffield Pink.' I found it online at www.Burpee.com for $8.95 but a simple Google search turned up lots of other sources, too. This is the time to get it and stick it in the ground for a real show next fall. Go for the biggest plant you can get. That gives it a better chance to thrive.

Finally, a mum for me.