Chrysanthemums are the flowers of autumn.

They are also the symbol of the Imperial family and every autumn for hundreds of years, chrysanthemums, called kiku in Japanese, have been highlighted at festivals.

Kiku are trained into plants I’d never guess were chrysanthemums: tiny bonsai with roots growing over rocks; massive two meter wide bushes with hundreds of flowers per stem; flower heads a foot wide on a single stalk a meter tall.

The colors most popular at these shows are pale yellow, white and lavender, not the golds, russets and burgundies I associate with mums back home. But for all the differences in color, shape and size, chrysanthemums still mean autumn to me. Posted by kuri at November 05, 2000 07:32 AM