MR-02479     1979

To Order

Minnesota Report 194

Centennial Sun Garden Chrysanthemum Introduction

A bright array of color and unusual resistance to ad-verse weather make this cultivar worthy of introduc-tion for 1985, in honor of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's 100th anniversary. Centennial Sun is the 65th garden chrysanthemum to be released by the University of Minnesota's Department of Horti-cultural Science and Landscape Architecture.

Centennial Sun (79-41-12) produces a prolific canopy of 1 _ inch, fully double, bright golden yellow, formal, decorative flowers on uniform mounded plants 16-18 inches high and 25-28 inches wide. Flowering begins by the last week of August in the St. Paul area and is only slightly delayed by unfavorable weather. Flowers look fresh and bright until killed by frost, and have slight frost resistance. The stiff-willowy stems are clothed in clean, dark green leaves. This cultivar is less stocky and a week earlier to flower than Sassy . Parents are Chiquita's Rival and Gianna D'Angelo. Centennial Sun adapts well to spring flow-ering in pots with either short or natural photoperiod treatment.

This cultivar is equally satisfactory for cut flower purposes and in the flower border.

Disease detection tests of original stock plants were conducted by F. L. Pfleger and R. J. Zeyen of the De-partment of Plant Pathology.

Cultural information can be found in extension fact sheet FS-7068, Garden Chrysanthemums, available from the Extension Store, Room 20 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Ave., University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.

Produced by Communication and Educational Technology Services, University of Minnesota Extension.

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