Yellow Garden Mum

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Garden Mum

Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum 'Donna'

(kris-AN-the-mum) (gran-dih-FLOR-um)

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Synonym: Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Here are two Chrysanthemums that have been brightening up the landscape here. You may not realize it but when you go to the nursery or pick up a couple of mums at the supermarket you are practicing an age-old tradition dating back centuries. While the mum you plant may look like any other flower it is actually the product of years of scientific research and breeding work. ‘Donna’ is a bright yellow member of the Yoder brothers Prophets Series. It was introduced in 1991 and has shown remarkable staying power by keeping on the available varieties list that long. Most varieties are changed out every couple of years.

A new trend for my mums is the actual regrowth of them in the spring. Most of these mums have always been sold as “hardy” but failed to come back. The last couple of years, despite harsh winters, they have appeared in the spring. This is what I have learned about this process. I move the mums in early spring because they have been planted in our seasonal display areas. It is an easy job since they don’t really make a root system during the fall. I usually place them in the perennial border or in the rock garden for the rest of the year. Since we often plant a lot of mums at once in the fall a selection process takes place in the spring where we only take the healthiest and strongest plants for replanting. That way we don’t get overrun with any particular variety. If the plants warrant it division of the roots is okay at this time. A full sun area with adequate water is needed for placement. We usually pinch the mums several times during the season to promote bushiness and later flowering. A Chrysanthemum left to its own devices can bloom as early as July 4^th depending on the type (early, mid or late season).

This next picture shows an unknown name that has a different flower type. Chrysanthemums are broken down into 13 different classifications by flower shape.

Garden Mum

Yellow Garden Mum

Chrysanthemum x morifolium

(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)

 

Korean Chrysanthemum

Korean Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
(kris-AN-the-mum)

Wordless Wednesday 

Sunny Monica Garden Mum

Garden Mum

Chrysanthemum x morifolium ‘Sunny Monica’

(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)

Ever feel like you were in a storm of change and didn’t have anything to hang on to? That is kind of the way I feel right now. Stand by for a big official update on my employment situation here soon. In some ways it will probably be a case of be careful what you wish for because it may come true.

I picked this mum for today since I will be ordering the 150 eight inch mums for the place in Greenwich. We have been patiently waiting for the Impatiens to frost out and be removed but we haven’t had a frost yet. Now there is a freeze warning for here on Friday night. That should pave the way for the new planting. We also have several hundred bulbs to install in the same garden, which we will be working on today. It sure has been cold here at night but the conditions must not be right for frost so instead we will just have a season ending freeze instead.

Messina White Chrysanthemum

White Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum 'Messina'

(kris-AN-the-mum)

This mum is again proving to be an early bloomer. We were on the hunt for some color for next weekend and got a few of these. There is a big party at the Greenwich estate next weekend and a few early Chrysanthemums certainly brightened up the landscape. There is still a good assortment of flowers out in the garden now. The Japanese Anemones, Black-eyed Susans and Asters are putting on a good show. The shrub roses and even some Hydrangea have been hanging on.

I really got a feeling for the people that have to grow these types of plants on a timely basis. There are a couple hundred of Chrysanthemums that have wintered over in the garden (for the last couple of years) and I have been sweating getting them to bloom next weekend. In truth I have only been partially successful in the color end of the equation a lot will be blooming over the next couple of weeks, which is partially due to just being later strains of mums.

Since it Sunday here are a couple black and white pictures as the bonus snapshots. The first is just a collection of bamboo stakes and it looked cooler and more geometric in real life. The exposure was a little difficult to manage with the bright natural light from the top. Both of these were taken with my Coolpix 8400, which generally does pretty well in monochrome.

This next shot is an interior shot of Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, Florida.

I am not much of a military tour person but found the history and set up of this fort interesting. 

 

Pink Shrub Rose and Sheffield Chrysanthemum

Shrub Rose
Rosa cv.

We have been tending to this rose for the past several years and still think it is a great variety. The flowers are simply huge and very aromatic. I have a feeling it might actually be a climbing rose since it gets quite tall but it is really kind of jammed in its corner so it is difficult to say for sure.

The rose season has been pretty good here so far. Thankfully more and more of the modern types have some heat resistance bred into them. There was a great crop of roses available in the big rose garden on Friday.

Sunday means a bonus shot here on the digital flower pictures blog. This one was taken last autumn and I am posting it because some of the Sheffield mums at work are growing enormous and are going to be great this fall. This is truly a beautiful perennial that seems to be rarely grown. Much superior to the typical kind of annual mums usually planted. They were potting up some Chrysanthemums at the large annual farm last week.

Hardy Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'

(kris-AN-the-mum)

Synonym: Dendranthema ‘Hillside Pink Sheffield’

These were shot with my compact camera a Nikon P6000. It shoots such giant pictures and has a pretty good lens.

Florist Mum

Florist Chrysanthemum

(kris-AN-the-mum)

Synonyms: Dendranthema

Kiku Chrysanthemum

Friendship Kiku Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum ‘Hoko Yuai’

This is another flower from the lost roll of the Kiku Chrysanthemum Show in New York City last fall. The flowers were huge and the overall the mum had been trained to show 298 flowers in the display. It was quite a work of art. It’s a little funny because this picture was shot and then not looked at until I took some pictures in Florida a couple of months later. Sometimes I wish that my organizational skills were better. These Chrysanthemums were breathtaking and it is hard for me to imagine the work that went into creating them. Not only do the flowers have to be perfectly grown to form the big shape out of the 300 but also they have to bloom at show time. I really hope the NYBG has another Chrysanthemum show this fall.

Since it Sunday that calls for a bonus snapshot and here is a pic of a beautiful Dahlia shot out on Long Island, New York. The growing conditions on the largest island in the lower 48 are great and there is always seems to be something horticultural significant to see.

Chrysanthemums

Garden Mum
Chrysanthemum x morifolium
(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)

There seems to be time here to sneak in a couple more chrysanthemums before spring. The garden forecast is looking good for next week. After doing some preliminary inspections at client’s houses there really doesn’t seem to be much winter damage. The early snowstorm raised havoc but the weather has been good enough that we were able to clean everything up. Spring is sure to show some things or hidden damage so I am ready for that.

This orange mum was kind of mid season replacement two autumns ago and it lived over the winter. We only pinched them back twice during the season so it developed a nice sprawly shape. It was a nice contrast with the perfectly shaped new seasonal mums. I am expecting good over wintering rates on last years mums but will have to wait and see.

Since Sunday here is the bonus snapshot. This mum stood out above all the others colorwise. The color is only partially rendered here. It is truly spectacular. We had a few in containers that are now heeled in the compost pile. I am not too hopeful because 'Dazzling Stacy' truly looks like a non hardy garden belle.

Dazzling Stacy Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Dazzling Stacy'

(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)

Synonyms: Prophets Series, Daisy Mum, Dazzling Yostacy

Sparkling Cheryl Chrysanthemum

Garden Mum

Chrysanthemum x morifolium ‘Sparkling Cheryl’

(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)

At a time when my thoughts are turning more towards tulips and daffodils here is another Chrysanthemum. This mum was truly a star in the fall garden last year. Often living up to its name by sparkling in the morning sun with some dew drops on the flowers. We haven’t been paying too much attention to the mum cultivars we grow since they change so often. You just have to guess by color and ‘Sparkling Cheryl’ has a wonderful orangey-yellow blend that really fits the season.

Looking back at all the Chrysanthemum pictures I have taken over the last few years shows it to be a very photogenic flower. Partially due to the wonderful seasonal autumn light we get around here and partially due to it being a colorful, heavy flowering and nicely shaped flower. I am going to keep planting and photographing them.

We quietly slipped over a million page views on Digital Flower Pictures.com blog. It is just a number but a little humbling to me. I hope everyone is getting the information they are stopping by for.

Cascading Chrysthanmum

Cascading Chrysthanmum  
Chrysanthemum x moriflorum ‘Megumi’
(kris-AN-the-mum) (mor-ee-FOH-lee-um)
Synonyms: Garden Mum, Daisy Chrysanthemum

Today's Flowers

Kiku Chrysanthemums  
Chrysanthemum 'Hatsuhikari'
(kris-AN-the-mum)
Synonyms: First Light Chrysanthemum

These are some more Kiku Chrysanthemums from the ‘lost roll’ I found this week. They would have to be classified as more traditional types that we are used to seeing in our gardens. Googling the Japanese names returns mostly obscure and useless information. This clear yellow daisy type was a winner. Since it is Sunday means Today’s Flowers and an extra snapshot.

This white mum was quite attractive. Sorry for the short posts but I am totally worn out from vacation. We still have two days left on our Disney passes but we are taking today off. The Princess dinner was fun and I got to met Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Aurora and my favorite Ariel. It was quite magical for Erika.



Cascade Anemone Mum
Chrysanthemum 'Gum Drop'
(kris-AN-the-mum)

KIku Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum x morifolium ‘Hagoromo’

This shot was taken at the NYBG’s Kiku festival last fall. It was on the “roll” that was in the compact P6000 camera and I found it when I downloaded the Disney pictures on the card. The flower looks a bit fierce but was actually friendly. The flowers at the festival were amazing and their beauty is easy to remember. I can’t talk long as we are again hitting the parks today. I am attending a princess dinner at the castle among other things. Wish me luck :lol:

Here is another picture of my destination. It looked especially beautiful at night. I hope the serving wenches cook up something good.

Garden Mum

Garden Mum

Chrysanthemum ‘Jacqueline Orange Fusion’

(kris-AN-the-mum)

Black and White Kiku Chrysanthemum

Kiku Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum ‘Usukurenai’

(kris-AN-the-mum)

This flower was huge and a very soft pink color. After walking through the show in color I decided to take some quick snaps in monochrome. Since the sun was sun shining brightly into the greenhouse it offered enough contrast to get a few nice black and white flower pictures. I cannot imagine the dedication involved in growing these majestic flowers and have them all come into bloom for show time. They were pretty much perfect. While not as great as the Kiku shows of previous years I am glad the NYBG decided to have a Chrysanthemum show. I can still smell all of the flowers and they were obviously beautiful.

Since it is getting near winter now I have begun the process of culling a lot of photos for use here during the season. Some didn’t make it on this blog for different reasons and some files are being opened for the first time. There were two “rolls” of Orchid pictures that I hadn’t looked at when they were taken so there will be some nice Orchid photos here coming up in the next weeks.

Purple Mist Chrysanthemum

Global Warming Chrysanthemum

Dendranthema ‘Purple Mist’

(den-dran' thah-mah)

I have said before that I emphatically resist gardening trends until they become firmly established. It was against this policy that I picked out several Global Warming mums at the nursery. “Latest blooming strain of Chrysanthemum ever” was the advertising tag they were using. I really do love growing the Sheffield strains of mums since you know they are truly perennial and a well behaved garden plant so when the colors on the plant tags indicated colors I hadn’t seen before 8 plants ended up in my basket. I was happy to see they were the same price as the regular perennials. That is usually one reason I don’t like the trends because they usually have an outlandish price premium attached to them.

The mums got planted in some raised stone planters on the terrace and started to bloom. They were really gorgeous and stately. Then the 12 inches of snow came. I quietly thought ‘better luck next year, mums” but when the snow melted they were still in full color. A little broken down but most of the stems sprang back to attention still giving a nice appearance. The bees and Hoover flies were all over them in a full on feeding frenzy before the winter. There are some flowers in the garden right now but they are few and far between (or not full sized) as a few species seem to be trying to throw out a few last desperate blooms. On the other hand the Global Warming mums are in full bloom and look they want to be flowering now (no desperation). We planted three of the five colors available. The off white is kind of a typical Sheffield color but the purple and orange are really special.

Since it is Sunday come join us at Today’s Flowers. Sunday means a bonus snapshot.

Dwarf Double Daffodil
(nar-SIS-us)

This flower is from last spring and was blooming in the collection of dwarf Daffodils. It is a little underexposed but shows the interesting petals of this cultivar.

Kiku Chrysanthemum

Kiku Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum cv.

(kris-AN-the-mum)

Another beauty from the Fall Flowers of Japan exhibit. They were lucky the event was staged primarily indoors this year. The snow and continued cold temperatures would have made being outdoors more challenging. The mums at work were totally flattened but were still showing a bit of color when the snow melted. Many sustained massive structural damage but still were hanging on.

Sorry to keep going on about the damage but last weekends freak snowstorm was a natural disaster on a scale we were not prepared for. Many towns are still completely out of power with estimates of the middle of next week as a turn on time. I have not personally had this much chain saw time in many years. A chainsaw is not really a gardening tool but has been this week. It’s hard not smell like that unique blend of gasoline, wood chips, exhaust and sweat at work. It brings back memories of being a logger in Vermont. I am still trying to make amends to the forest for all the trees I cut up there.

Kiku Chrysanthemums

Kiku Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum ‘NYBG Selection White’

(kris-AN-the-mum)

This is another picture from the Fall Flowers of Japan show at the NYBG. The flowers left a deep impression on me. They were very proud flowers and each seemed to be reveling in their beauty. To give an idea of the scale each flower was 5 to 6 inches across. While most people don’t like the smell of mums I found the aroma to be heady and refreshing. It brought some childhood memories of pinching the large wholesale crop of mums my parents used to grow.

Another rainy day out there today. The large bulb order is here and it is going to take a lot of digging to install them. Perhaps my eyes were bigger than my shovel. It is really not going to be a problem finding space and getting them in but it was more than I expected (the packages looked so small in the catalog).

Gold Fever Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum ‘Gold Fever’

(kris-AN-the-mum)

Chesapeake Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum ‘Chesapeake’

(kris-AN-the-mum)