Rouge you caught me in a silly mood and when I saw your thread my first thought was "gee, that sounds a bit obscene" lol!

I thought I never heard of ajania, but this plant looks familiar to me. It reminds me of a chrysanthemum (with ageratum blooms lol) , but that's not what I'm thinking of - I think I actually grew this once many, many years ago, but the name doesn't seem familiar. I think the plant I'm thinking of had white edging... I'm off to google this....

:)
Dee

Diggerdee -- it is in the chrysanthemum family, used to be known as Chrysanthemum pacificum (aka gold-and-silver mum). I had it and think it is a fantastic foliage plant. I got one year of beautiful late fall blooms, but most years the bloom was spotty, the weather did them in before they could do much of anything. But the foliage! I had to re-home the ones I bought for this house because unfortunately I couldn't find a sunny enough spot for them. I wouldn't be too upset if a missed root decided to sprout, though -- I re-did the back sunny bed late summer and can now probably find a sunny sliver here or there (although they do need more than that -- they grow at a good clip if happy).

So mxk3 you had success having your Ajania coming back each season?

Oh, definitely. When I lived closer to the city, I was zone 6, and I had them many years. I'm now in an exurb, zone 5. They overwintered with no problem last winter (before I gave them away), but it was a mild winter. I think one of the important factors is well-draining soil, same as with any mum.

Yeah, I definitely grew these many many moons ago! I do remember mine having more of a white edge, and for the life of me this name does not sound at all familiar, even though I'm pretty good with names. Even the chrys. pacificum doesn't really ring a bell. Oh well. Obviously, they did not survive for me lol. Judging from mxk's experience, mine probably bit the dust from lack of sun, as my yard is pretty shady.

Perhaps it's time to give them another try. I'm a much more experienced gardener now (which honestly doesn't mean much lol!), and have a bit more sun since we lost a triple-trunked oak. That foliage is just too wonderful not to give it another shot!

:)
Dee

"That foliage is just too wonderful not to give it another shot!"

Yes!

Ours in a pot yesterday:

WOW! Looking awesome!

:)

Dee

These ones in my rock garden finally in decent blooms even after going through 5 nights of frosts in a row. I propagated the 3 ajanias from cuttings 2.5 years ago and planted it last fall. They never went dormant in the winter probably due to snowcover for most of this past winter and they have grown enormously(3.5 ft wide) in a single season! They say mature size is 3 ft wide but it exceeded that in a single season.. I wonder how big it'll be after 10 years.. I am scared.

Oh, and bees are still around! Always great to see them.

They were like this last year of September when I planted

@Heruga (7a NJ) your plants in that location look spectacular!

Yes they do indeed! My oh my, that's some incredible growth in a year! They look fabulous!

:)

Dee

Thanks :). But yea, it’s not so much the cold but it’s the winter moisture that can affect it’s survival through winter. The first time I grew these plants I lost it or only a few shoots returned because I planted it too low. Ever since then I would plant these a little higher and it survived just fine. These are also planted against my foundation as you can see and it is south facing so all the sun reflects off the wall and insulates it pretty well. So it most likely got away from the repeated freeze thaw cycle you would typically get in an open spot, hence why it might have grown this much this year. Just praying it returns next year!

I really love this plant. I do wish I had room to have it in the ground as @Heruga (7a NJ) yours looks amazing!

Thanks :) I fell in love with this plant too several years ago when I ordered these plants from a nursery several years ago so I decided to take cuttings. I failed the first time, they just rotted away from too much moisture and being in an exposed hot location but somehow managed to make some more the next year and was successful this time. I’m just hoping they’ll come back next year having spent so much energy on growth since last fall and all the flowering.

UPDATE (June 2022):

So my clump of Ajania eixsts only in a container (thanks again houzz member gdinie) which I have successfully overwintered for two successive years. But last Fall when it bloomed (mid October) it was so splayed out.

Here it is today:

If it was a 'regular' Chrysanthemum (like the one in the pot just behind it) I would have no issue giving it a "haircut". But for me in my location, this pot of Ajania seems to bloom so late and so shearing it might mean for me that it might not flower in time before the cold weather sets in?

Just wondering if any of you have had a good experience cutting it back during the growing season?

I never bothered to cut it back mid season although I heard it is beneficial. although I’m not 100% confident I would say give it a try. I don’t think it would delay flowering time if my guess is correct based on other perennials I’ve seen being cut off prior to flowering and then they woild flower just in time.

So I did give it a "haircut" and it looks like it will flower this season:

Looking very good and bushy! Glad yours are doing well. I probably should’ve done mine too as one of mine flopped over. Not sure why only one out of my 3 did that but next year I better give all of them a haircut

The pot today:

(The trim back worked just fine)

This morning after a 29 degree frosty night. Thought I‘d take pics before the real cold sets in the next few days and the blooms get zapped.

Also wanted to share this little self sown volunteer that germinated this past Spring. Had a few other volunteer seedlings but none else had the jagged shaped and the creamy edge you see on the original plant so I pulled them out.

@Heruga (7a NJ), thanks so much for contributing pics of your amazing specimens. Each year more and more I enjoy this plant...such an interesting flower eh?

No problem! Agree this plant is sure fascinating. Just when everything is dead and bare this plant puts on an amazing show. I love how late its capable of blooming and staying in bloom even through very frosty nights. The flowers end up unaffected from the past few frosty nights, in fact the flowers keep opening wider!