In growing my own chrysanthemums, I knew that there would be a lot to learn. For example, people who grow mums for exhibition are absolutely amazing at nurturing the most incredible flowers. Even though I purchased several large reflex type chrysanthemums, they definitely wouldn’t reach their full potential without proper pinching and disbudding.
Knowing my own tendency to be lazy in the garden, I decided to just pinch them and then let them grow as a spray. The website descriptions shows a very bright red reflex flower. As you can see, mine are quite a bit different that anything that I could have expected. However, I do have a few theories as to why my blooms so much variation. 
As you can see, my flowers have completely opened. My first thought was that I simply let them fade on the plant too much. However, I soon found newer blooms which showed the same color patterns. Since we had not yet had a frost, I definitely couldn’t blame the color on the cold weather or damage. 
Though I’m not certain, my best guess is that Joyce Fountain chrysanthemum did not like my planting site. Since my flower bed was in full shade most of the day, perhaps the color just didn’t get what it needed to full develop. Of course there’s always the chance that I received a cutting that was mislabeled, but I don’t think that happened. Either way, I absolutely loved the uniquely vintage and antique looking color of these blooms. What do you think?
I love them!