For several years it’s been on the list to visit a chrysanthemum show. Not just any farmstand with fat bushelbaskets of mum color, but an official show with carefully trained displays complete with a bunch of different styles… foremost among them the single bloom monsters which I love above all others. I don’t know much about mums, but I do know I needed to see a show. Enter friend with suggestion to go to NYC 🙂

Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition. If the show has a name, it’s got to be official, right? Cascading forms and bonsai trained Kiku (Japanese for chrysanthemum) greeted us as we entered the greenhouse display.
We settled on a visit to the New York Botanical Garden. Strangely enough, for someone with a mild plant obsession and who grew up less than 50 miles away, this would be my first visit to the NY Botanical, but better late than never, right? Actually the truth is that the Bronx Zoo was always the winner when we were making our way to this part of the city. Actually it still tends to win out, but at least now I can blame the kids. I digress though. We made it to the Gardens at a decent time and were pleased to find ourselves visiting on one of those blue-sky, crisp air mornings that are perfect for brisk walks through extensive botanical gardens. I bet you didn’t even know that was a weather category, but for further reference it’s just a tad warmer than leaf-raking weather.
The actual display was a little smaller than I was expecting, probably due to greenhouse renovations and all the plant moving that goes with that, but the flowers were fascinating. I like the big, full flowers best, but there were plenty others to catch the eye. Actually enough caught my eye to get me thinking that maybe I need to dig a big part of the garden up and just plant it to all chrysanthemums.
Photographers were out in droves capturing flowers and fall foliage, and one person I spoke with was enthralled with the light… ‘the light is amazing’ she said, but for a point and shoot kind of photo-taker like myself the pictures on my camera leave much to be desired. Hopefully the give a decent feel for the display.

I was quite impressed by the garlands of chrysanthemum trained from side to side, but the towers of flowers on the right, and the various classes lined out on the left, kept me in this part of the greenhouse for quite a while.
In case you’re wondering I did get to see plenty of the huge single blooms as well. My tastes run to the gaudy end of the spectrum, so these big, fluffy things were just perfect.

I believe these are of the regular incurve class of chrysanthemums. I may have given a bloom or two a light squeeze, they’re so irresistibly full (my grandmother would have been appalled).
Wait, how could I forget the spider form. I love these as well… although I always wonder why the ring supports underneath are bright white and not a less obvious black or dark green…
With the serious business out of the way it was time to wander the grounds and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Foliage was at its peak and beginning to wind down.
Early November is probably not the showiest month for flowers, but we did enjoy all the trails and vistas and well tended plantings, and it’s amazing to think our quiet afternoon happened within the city limits of a metropolis which millions call home.
Although we weren’t able to find a single autumn flowering snowdrop we did catch the last of the Halloween displays and some of the other events going on in the park.

Giant squash and warty gourds almost made up for the lack of snowdrops. They’re so nice in fact that I’m actually considering planting my entire garden to squash and Indian corn next year.
And then we arrived at the main greenhouses and I forgot all about squash and snowdrops. The salvia were in bloom.

Yellow Salvia madrensis, fuzzy purple Salvia leucantha, and probably the carmine bloom of salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’ flowering in the Ladies Border.
Most of the fall blooming salvias arrive a little too late to show off in my PA garden, but here in the big city they flourish.

Yellow pineapple sage (Salvia elegans ‘Golden Delicious’) in the herb garden. Mine is usually just opening its first flowers when frost crashes the party.
So now I’m thinking I’ll plant the whole garden with salvias. I could do worse.
And then our visit came to its end. I didn’t want to admit it but my legs were kind of worn out from all the walking and when we sat down for a bite to eat neither of us were in a rush to get going again. Perhaps we should have taken advantage of the trams circling the garden, but I’m sure there will be plenty of time to rest up when the winter season rolls in… which judging by the 10 day forecast will be sooner rather than later.
Have a great weekend!