KIKU: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUM at the New York Botanical Garden

From October 20 through November 18, the NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN in the Bronx is exhibiting KIKU: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. It is the most extensive display of chrysanthemums grown in the Imperial style outside of Japan. For the past 5 years, horticulturists at the NY Botanical Garden have engaged in a cultural exchange with Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, Japan to perfect the skills necessary for cultivating and exhibiting chrysanthemums.

The exhibition is very impressive. For me, the most fascinating is the OZUKURI or "thousand blooms," in which a single plant has been trained to produce 300 or more perfect flowers on a complex frame or scaffold. There are also single large blossoms balanced atop as tall stem. Also on exhibit are cascades of small flowers grown on and supported by a bamboo and wire framework.