The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx

T he Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum exhibition is back at the New York Botanical Garden. This year's display at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory features hundreds of large chrysanthemums coaxed from a single stem and precisely arrayed in serried ranks; countless tiny chrysanthemums, shaped into bright cascades suspended from wire armatures; anemone-form chrysanthemums twisted around a piece of wood in a reinterpretation of bonsai. The kiku, (chrysanthemum’s Japanese name), is the central image in the imperial seal and the symbol of Japan’s monarchy, traditionally referred to as the chrysanthemum throne. It is the most revered flower in Japan. The exhibit continues through Oct. 27.

The Beauty of "Kiku": Japanese Chrysanthemums at the New York Botanical Garden

Ozukuri, a hillock of hundreds of perfectly spaced chrysanthemum blossoms from a single plant.

Kengai–or “cascade” kiku–relies on a single cutting to create a web of many smaller branches

Japanese chrysanthemums are in full bloom in an intimate exhibition in the Nolen Greenhouses' Bourke-Sullivan Display House, a wing of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. On display are hundreds of intricately trained chrysanthemums in both modern and ancient styles, including Ozukuri (thousand blooms), Kengai (cascade), and Ogiku (single stem). Newer stylistic interpretations include a bridge, pom poms, spirals, columns, a chrysanthemum house, and a sculpted chrysanthemum tree. The exhibit continues through Sunday, November 18.

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.