Korean chrysanthemums, 2009

The Korean chrysanthemum is a beautiful old fashioned mum that naturally flowers this time of year. Even though a perfectly winter hardy perennial here in the northeast, the Conservatory Garden in Central Park plants 2000 of these plants fresh each spring in the northern French garden. Grown all summer in organic-rich soil with good drainage and under full sun these plants get to be a few feet tall and wide and explode late October into November.
As you can see the mix of Korean mums is astounding and the wide array of colors is sensational.
These mums are quite different than the ones you find at your local florist, what I call the "pin cushion" mums, Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum and related cultivars. These are much larger and more open daisy-like flowers.
Though members of the Aster family, Asteraceae, these are most definitely chrysanthemums. Their fragrance is another great characteristic of these fall bloomers.


Such fabulous color and character every where you look. Hard to take a bad picture when you are surrounded by such beauty.

Each flower is such a character.



See these mums for yourself every fall up at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park at 105th and 5th Ave (in the French garden) from the end of October until mid-November when they get pulled so that 20,000 tulips can be planted for the following spring. Yup, that's what I said, 20,000!