Just before ten this morning a bright yellow caught my eye through an upstairs window. The sun had reached into the bed of chrysanthemums, awakening the southern border. These smallish yellow flowers are charming. With edges that turn lighter, almost white, as they open, they are long-lasting and cheerful in indoor arrangements.

This is an old-fashioned woody-stemmed chrysanthemum, passed along by an elderly cousin many years ago. Unlike the tidy, mounding chrysanthemums frequently sold at garden centers and grocery stores alike, the growth habit of these is more unruly and sprawling. Perhaps with a little effort they could be contained and made to behave, but they actually work fine in this informal cottage-style garden. This bed does needs thinning though. Along with these chrysanthemums, Salvia ‘Blue Sky’ Salvia and Eastern Red Columbine are seriously encroaching into this spring’s new ‘Blue Point’ Juniper hedge.