Chrysanthemum Plants
The Wonderful World Of Chrysanthemum Plants
Chrysanthemum Plants have long been a favorite of gardeners, florists, and anyone wanting a beautiful bouquet of long-lasting cut flowers. The range of colors, bloom types, and bloom sizes is quite extensive. In spite of the many species readily available, it usually isn't too hard to find one or two varieties that will fit well in almost any garden, large or small.
Mum's The Word - The Chrysanthemum is a genus, of which there are numerous species, and still more numerous varieties and hybrid mixes. The word chrysanthemum comes from the Greek words chrysous and anthemon, meaning golden flower. When growing wild, the only chrysanthemum plants normally seen had golden blossoms. Chrysanthemum plants are often referred to as “mums”. The mums we see today are quite different from their ancient ancestors, bring a great deal more showy with an abundance of different colors and color patterns. Not all the blooms are similar in shape, in fact there are some significant differences. The National Chrysanthemum Society (USA) lists 13 different types of blooms. The society's web site www.mums.com, is a good resource for looking into various aspects of chrysanthemum plants.
Most of us will purchase Garden Hardy mums for our flower gardens, but if one is planning on exhibiting the flower at a garden show or the State Fair, Exhibition mums would be the better choice. The Exhibition mums are not as hardy as the Garden Hardy types, and can take more work to grow.
Bloom Types - A chrysanthemum bloom is not a single flower, but is made up of multiple tiny flowers, or florets. Chrysanthemum blooms consist of ray and disk florets, the ray florets being on the perimeter, and disk florets being in the center of the bloom. Without going into a great deal of detail, the different types of blooms are this: The largest of the bloom types are classified as Irregular Incurve, where the ray florets completely hide the disk, droop down, and give the bloom the appearance of a skirt. Reflex and Regular Incurve types are similar, but give the appearance of a mop and a globe, respectively. Perhaps the best known of the globular blooms is the Pompon. These are double blooms, globular in shape, and usually of smaller size. Note that the correct spelling is "pompon", and not "pom pom". The Anemone and Spoon types feature blooms in which the disk florets are quite visible. There are other types as well, including the Exotic type, which seems to defy description.
Given the 13 different bloom types, and looking into the possible color combinations available for each type, it's easy to see why the number of species, varieties, and hybrids of chrysanthemum can plants is exceptionally large.
Easy To Grow And Maintain - Mums are quite easy to grow and most varieties tend to be relatively pest and disease free. The chrysanthemum plant is a sun loving plant, and prefers an area where there is a free movement of air. Near a wall, or in a corner where the air may become stagnant is usually not the best place to plant mums. One of the nicer things about this plant is it makes an excellent container plant, and a fairly large and showy plant can be kept in a reasonably-sized container on a porch or patio when one doesn't have a yard or garden. Mums typically grow on very sturdy stems, so the plants usually don't need to be staked unless a particular variety has very large blooms. Exhibition varieties often require staking however, as the stems are not always sturdy enough to adequately support the blooms, especially the giant blooms.
Chrysanthemum plants are very often late blooming, and give color to the garden long after most of the other flowers have ceased blooming. A brilliant splash of bright yellow, deep gold, or red-orange, is always a pleasing sight on a fall afternoon.