October was a hectic month of stunning Japanese floral displays, pumpkin zombies, changing foliage and a holiday weekend punctuated by tragedy. But if we’re pros at anything, it’s picking ourselves up by the bootstraps! Horticulture can–after all–be an unpredictable business.
After many long months of preparation, the NYBG‘s Fall Flowers of Japan exhibition continued throughout October with a focus on kiku, a centuries-old chrysanthemum tradition requiring patience, skill, and an eye for aesthetic. Our very own Ann Rafalko even took it upon herself to explain just how the talented horticulturists behind these artful blooms do it!
Honey bees still clung to the last of the chrysanthemums in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory as workers hurried about the business of change this past Friday. The shuffling of displays marks the end of our successful Fall Flowers of Japan exhibition, and while it was saddening to see the carefully-trained beauty of the ‘Thousand Bloom’ ozukuri exit stage left, the transition from ancient gardening artistry to a beloved family tradition can only mean the beginning of one of our most anticipated yearly events.
Production began on our 20th Holiday Train Show over the weekend, an undertaking that’s a bit like watching a Norman Rockwell painting as it first meets the canvas. The Conservatory space was only vacant for a moment before the sights of New York began appearing in miniature, springing up along the walkways and setting the stage for a quarter-mile of tracks, well-known bridges, and over 140 familiar city landmarks. And this busy activity continues as we speak!
The New York Botanical Garden didn’t just start growing traditional styles of Japanese chrysanthemum–called kiku in Japanese–on a whim. It’s a labor intensive process that the Japanese have been perfecting for centuries, passing down techniques from generation to generation. Some of the more complex display styles can take a team of gardeners almost a year to pull off, which also includes the fabrication of multiple sets of giant metal frameworks upon which the flowers are trained. Training the plant, forcing its buds, timing the blooms; kiku is most definitely not for novices.
Mums and Japanese Anemones in Fall Flowers of Japan
We are celebrating the fall this year with Fall Flowers of Japan in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. As you walk into the Conservatory you are greeted by color, ranging from the blues and purples of gentians, to the autumnal bronzes, yellows, and reds of chrysanthemums.
Texture and form abound; the orchid-like flowers of toad lilies (Tricyrtis) are speckled, Japanese anemones (Anemone) feature cup-shaped flowers and fuzzy seed heads, and Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba) provide height with their burgundy bottle brush spires.
For the opening weekend I conducted a demonstration on how to recreate a little piece of Fall Flowers of Japan at home in the form of a fall container display or border. Today I am going to share some of my favorite plants for making a display of this nature with you.
I was in the Conservatory yesterday giving a tour of Fall Flowers of Japanand kiku, and we all agreed that these gorgeous, enormous chrysanthemums look like a sky full of little fluffy clouds. What do you think?
Tropical Storm Irene and her friend Lee certainly left their mark across the northeast. They left a trail of downed trees, broken limbs, and leaves pretty much everywhere. Not only did it give the arborists and horticulturalists here at NYBG plenty of work, but it also provided a unique situation for a commissioned sculpture in the Palm Dome of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Internationally renowned installation artist Tetsunori Kawana–no stranger to working with natural materials–got the chance to try something new, recycling what would ultimately end up as compost or mulch into a sculpture, a “rebirth.”
How do you move a plant with a ‘thousand blooms’? Very, very carefully.
After months of attention, care, and careful training, this beautiful ozukuri, or ‘thousand bloom’ kiku is moved from the Nolen Greenhouses, to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to become part of Fall Flowers of Japan.
