Whenever friends, family, and colleagues travel, I always encourage them to take lots of photos - it's fun to see images from others taken during their vacations.
Recently, our own Marquee Brands VP of Creative Services, Ryan Mesina, shared pictures from his trip to Japan in November 2024. Ryan, along with his partner, his mother, and his sister, traveled there to visit Ryan's niece who was studying in Tokyo. Among their stops was the historic Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Once the residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period, it is now a public space filled with more than 20 thousand different trees and at least 1700 tropical and subtropical plant species. At the time, the family went specifically to see the chrysanthemums - beautiful in color, artistic design, Japanese history, and cultural significance.
Here are some of Ryan's photos, enjoy.
Both my mother and I are avid gardeners, and while Japan is filled with countless culinary, cultural, and horticultural wonders, visiting the chrysanthemums at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden was at the top of our lists. Here we are on the morning of our first day in Tokyo, excited to start exploring.
Located in the heart of Tokyo, the garden provided some much welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. The exhibition featured seven huts,
called Uwaya, that are specifically used to display these meticulously grown chysanthemums. They are similar to the “theaters” popular in 19th century England used to display auricula primroses. Each of these seven Uwaya showcased specific varieties and methods of training chrysanthemums.
The first one we encountered was dedicated to the
Kengai style, also known as the cascade style, first
created in 1915.
Chrysanthmums grown in the Kengai style are elevated on wooden pedestals and are meant to evoke the look of wild chysanthemums on a cliffside.
The exhibition was spread across the Japanese Garden, with the Uwaya arranged around a large central pond. Shown here are the impressive Ozikuri, or thousand bloom chrysanthemums, which make an impression even from across the water.
Each massive pot holds a single plant, meticulously trained over the course of a year to produce hundreds of blooms, with each perfectly positioned so the whole resembles an even dome.
If you look closely, you can see the single stem that produced this entire Ozukuri. Also visible is the intricate frame used to train and support the plant.
Here I am with the Ogiku or large-flowered chrysanthemums. Each plant was trained to support just one single jumbo flower. So you have some sense of scale, I am nearly 6’3″ – these blooms were massive!
Ogiku are characterized by incurved petals that form a puffy flower and are traditionally arranged in diagonal stripes referred to as Tazuna-ue, or horse bridle style, because they resemble the pattern on horse bridles used in Shinto ceremony.
They typically come in pink, yellow, white, red, purple, orange, and variegated.
Similar to the Ogiku are two large-flowered styles called Ichimonji and Kudamono. Ichimonji chrysanthemums are characterized by single-blooming flowers with large petals, while Kudamono resemble spiders with their long, thin, straight tubular petals. Notice how the flowers are so broad they each need a round support under the flower heads to keep them from flopping.
The blooms can be more than six-inches in diameter and are often flat in appearance.
Here is a large, delicate Kudamono-giku. They’re called spider chrysanthemums, but look to me like they’d be right at home next to a sea anemone at the bottom of the ocean.
Ichimonji resemble the crest of the Japanese Imperial family.
As you can imagine, the exhibition was a big draw for garden and photo enthusiasts alike. Here are shutterbugs admiring the Edo varieties.
Characterized by medium-sized blooms with classical form that change in appearance as they open, each plant is trained to produce exactly 27 blooms.
This traditional display practice has been passed down through generations from the 18th and 19th centuries to showcase the beauty of the flowers.
In japan, the chrysanthemum is deeply rooted in culture and history. The flower symbolizes longevity, rejuvenation, and nobility.
Here in this tent – Ise, Saga, and Choji varieties are displayed. Choji are trained to display one central bloom that is encircled by six others.
Choji chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum moriforium cv. Choujigiku, is a medium-sized chrysanthemum with a raised flower center – very anemone-like blooms.
Higo varieties are characterized by medium-flowered, single blooms and were grown by samurai as a way of practicing discipline.
After our relaxing day in the garden, we were ready to dive into the madness of Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood! If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan right now, the show is currently up until November 15th at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. If you’re stateside, check out “Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition” currently at the New York Botanical Garden until November 16th, or head to Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens for the Chrysanthemum Festival, also on display until November 16th.
If you're in or near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania now through November 16th, stop by and visit the Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens.
While I was at QVC earlier this week, I had the opportunity to see the colorful mum display. Longwood has a rich and varied history. For thousands of years, the native Lenni Lenape tribe fished its streams, hunted its forests, and planted its fields. In 1700, Quaker farmer, George Peirce, purchased 400-acres of the English-claimed land and began developing the property. His decedents eventually created an arboretum of some of the finest trees in the nation. Unfortunately, as years passed, heirs lost interest and the land suffered decades of neglect until 1906, when it was obtained by Pierre du Pont - entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist and member of the prominent du Pont family. Pierre's passion and vision created the groundwork for what is now Longwood Gardens - home to many spectacular botanical collections spread across 1,100-acres - all wonderfully maintained by a staff of more than 400 employees, students and volunteers.
Longwood showcases one of North America’s largest and oldest collections of chrysanthemums in this festival every year.
The event displays more than 200 chrysanthemum cultivars from big football-sized mums to incurves, and spiders planted in spheres, pagodas, towers, and more.
In this area, Longwood presents samples of each of the 13 classes of chrysanthemums defined by bloom shape and bred for color, size and unique form.
This is a Class 1 Irregular Incurve Chrysanthemum ‘Crimson Tide’ with its unique ruby tones and incurved petals. It features deep burgundy color with silvery copper accents.
Single and Semi Double Mums are members of Class 7. This mum is called ‘Two-Tone Pink.’
In contrast is the Class 10 Quill ‘King’s Delight.’ The quill mums have needle-like petals that resemble quills. These flowers grow upright on strong stems reaching about 12 to 18 inches tall.
This Spoon Class chrysanthemum has petals that are spoon-shaped with cupped edges. They typically come in pink, red, white, and yellow. This variety is called ‘Mary1.’
The Reflex Class chrysanthemum ;Garnet King’ is one of the deepest red produced mums. It was originally introduced in 1928.
Exotic or unclassified mums are characterized by their unique shapes and colors, often with twisted or bi-shaded florets that change as they open. This variety is ‘Edo 21.’
And look at this gorgeous Quill chrysanthemum – ‘Seaton’s Ashleigh,’ a quilled purple-pink flower known to be long-lasting and weather tolerant.
‘Satomi Orange’ is a Semi-Double chrysanthemum with erect woody-based stems and aromatic flowers in a rusty orange yellow.
This Anemone class mum is called ‘Purple Light.’ It is loved for its vigorous growth and rich purple-pink blooms. Its flowers are about two and a half inches in diameter and changes color through the season, becoming paler mauve as flowers mature.
Pompom is another class, number 6. This is ‘Kermit.’ The Pompom class, or spray chrysanthemums, come in a variety of colors and are well-known for their long vase life, lasting 14 to 20 days. The flowers are incurve or reflex and show a button-like appearance.
Spider chrysanthemums look just as its class name implies. These mums have tubular ray florets that sometimes coil or hook at the ends. This cultivar is ‘Kishi-no-Nishi.’
Decorative mums are known for their unique and elaborate forms. ‘Indian Summer’ is a large mum with warm orange blooms.
But this year’s highlight is this one plant, an Intermediate Incurve called ‘Susono-no-Hikari.’ This has more than a thousand blooms planted using a centuries-old technique in which a single-stem is trained to produce as many perfectly placed blooms as possible. It took the growing team more than 18-months to train and nurture this plant. It is the biggest of its kind outside Asia.
The plant was guided through a labor-intensive multi-step process of pinching, tying, disbudding, and shaping to grow it into its dome form.
One perfect bloom grows on each branch.
Another artistically trained chrysanthemum is this pagoda form. This is grown with cascade chrysanthemums, ‘Early Seiko.’
And this one is ‘Firechief’ – an artistically trained standard form with cascade chrysanthemums.
This Intermediate Incurve chrysanthemum is called ‘Gertrude.’ It stands on sturdy stems topped with palm-sized lavender flowers and coated in fuzz – look closely.
‘Icicles’ is another unique variety known for its dark green foliage and waxy, mop-head white flowers.
Try to visit if you can. The Longwood Gardens Chrysanthemum Festival is unlike anything one can imagine. See all 66 specialty forms and learn about all the classes. These heirloom and exhibition Chrysanthemums are incredible.
This time of year my grove of Japanese maple trees is aglow with autumn color - bright yellow, blazing orange, and bold crimson red.
Many of my Japanese maples are varieties of Acer palmatum - trees that have been cultivated in Japanese gardens for centuries. Over the last several years, I’ve planted many of these trees in one section of a shade garden not far from my chicken coops and hoop houses. They were planted in honor of my late sister, Laura Plimpton, who adored these trees. Japanese maples provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture that gets better and better every year.
Here are some photos.
Few trees are as beautiful as the Japanese maple. With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars including hybrids, the iconic Japanese maple tree is among the most versatile small trees for use in the landscape. Every year, all of us here at my farm wait for this woodland to burst with color.
Japanese maples are native to areas of Japan, Korea, China, and Russia. In Japan, the maple is called the “autumn welcoming tree” and is planted in the western portion of gardens – the direction from which fall arrives there.
The contrast between the bright reds, oranges, yellows, and greens in this grove are stunning.
But the brilliant fall colors aren’t a guarantee. The colors are a result of climate, weather, and environmental conditions. Here in the Northeast, fall weather usually arrives in September, with temperatures cooling off rapidly at night even when the days are still warm. These cool nighttime temperatures trigger the leaf-changing process. Unusually warm early fall weather may even prevent the leaves from turning red. This is because the color changes occur with gradually cooling temperatures – not cold snaps.
Leaf color best develops when nighttime temperatures remain above freezing but below 45-degrees Fahrenheit. A sudden cold snap could turn the leaves more plum-brown seemingly overnight, skipping the vibrantly orange and red stage altogether.
Red leafed cultivars are the most popular, followed by green shrubs with deeply dissected leaves.
I also have more rare varieties. These leaves are deeply divided, but each lobe is also dissected, giving them a lacy effect.
Japanese maples are divided into categories based on their distinct leaf structures. Among them is palmate, which is the classic maple-shaped leaves with bold lobes. Another is dissectum characterized by deeply cut, feathery foliage. Atropurpureum
contains some of the most recognizable Japanese maples that are upright with deeply lobed red leaves containing “five fingers.” There are also variegated varieties with multi-colored leaves. There are 17 different groups in all.
The leaves range from about an inch-and-a-half to four-inches long and wide with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes.
Japanese maple forms also vary. They can be weeping, rounded, dwarf, mounding, upright, or cascading.
Japanese maples typically grow about one-foot per year for the first 50-years and can live to be more than a hundred.
Any heavy pruning should be done in late winter before leaf buds begin to open. Cut out scraggly interior twigs and branches, but leave the structural branches alone. Small, corrective cuts can be made any time of year. If I can, I like to prune and groom these Japanese maples myself.
Japanese maple trees are particularly suitable for borders and ornamental paths because their root systems are compact and not invasive. Through this woodland grove, they line both sides of the carriage road.
They can withstand very cold temperatures, but in summer, water deeply during dry spells and cut back on the amount of water in late summer to intensify the autumn color.
As young trees grow, their colors become even more vibrant. It’s exciting to see how they develop through the seasons – many have such interesting growth habits.
With the right conditions, the fall colors of the Japanese maple may last for several weeks. Unfortunately, as it gets colder, the colors begin to dull.
And look who else is walking around enjoying the autumn changes… one of my “blue boys.”
And where one goes, his friends will follow. These peacocks sometimes roam the areas outside their enclosure, observing all the activity around them, and searching for insects to eat.
These trees are hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 through 8 and thrive in slightly acidic, well-draining soil.
If growing in containers in colder zones, allow the plants to go fully dormant outside and then bring them into an unheated garage or other sheltered, cool area. In warmer zones, place them in a shaded location where they can be protected from drying winds.
The best location is a sunny spot with afternoon shade. Red and variegated leaves need relief from hot afternoon sun in summer but need the light to attain full color.
Here is a view looking up at the foliage. I purposely planted my Japanese maples beneath larger trees. The varying heights and layers make the grove so much more interesting. I love this woodland and continue to add more and more gorgeous Japanese maples to this collection. How are the Japanese maples doing where you live? I hope you can stop and enjoy their magnificent color this weekend.
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