100 Flowers: 1 Plant

© Bunkyo Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa
Hyakushu-tsugiwake-giku (hundreds varieties grafted chrysanthemum)

One hundred different chrysanthemum flowers grafted onto one plant? What an extraordinary thought! Our mum team would love to take credit for this great idea; however, this horticulture art form has surprisingly been around for hundreds of years in China and Japan. Today you can find it on display in only two places worldwide, and Longwood Gardens is proud to be one of them.

Five years ago, my friend showed me a note card with a picture of a multi-flowered chrysanthemum. It was an old Japanese wood block print, or Ukiyoe, made in the 18th century (Edo period). He asked, “Can you make this?” I had no idea how it was made. Throughout 2008 and 2009 I visited Japan to learn how to graft mums from Mr. Hiroshi Saito, and how to recreate the traditional 100 cultivar bloom from Mr. Akiyoshi Oshiro. Mr. Oshiro was the first to recreate this 18th century chrysanthemum art at the Hamamatsu Flower Park in Japan. He generously shared his special skill with me, which I brought back to Longwood Gardens.

Mr. Oshiro’s 100 cultivar grafted mum (Hyakushu-tsugiwake-giku) at the Hamamatsu Flower Park

In 2009 we made our first attempt at a 100 cultivar mum. It had only 36 different flowers.  Someone mentioned that it was so ugly, so we practiced our skill, and by 2010 we successfully displayed 96 flowers. In 2011 we reached our 100 cultivar goal.

The mum starts off as a small cutting in October—an entire year before it goes on display. We grow, train, and pinch it the same as we would a small 1,000 bloom mum.  By June, the single plant has almost 200 stems and is ready to graft. The mum gets divided into four sections, each section receiving around the same number of stems. Mum varieties used for grafting are selected by their bloom time, color, flower shape, and size. Some of the mum varieties are from Longwood’s own stock, but other varieties are bought from domestic suppliers as small cuttings and grown specifically for this project. Unfortunately, in the United States we do not have as many varieties to choose from as in China or Japan, and we are unable to import any new varieties.

The 100 cultivar mum in June, when it’s ready to graft

A cutting labeled with its name, color, and flower type

The grafted mum is kept under shade and misted to insure the grafts do not dry out

After about 2 weeks, the grafts have taken and the mum starts to grow

We start grafting the first week of July, approximately 25 to 30 stems a day. To learn about this technique, read our blog or watch our video.  After each cutting is grafted on to a stem, it gets a label with its name, color, and flower type. Once grafting has started, the mum is kept under shade and is misted to insure the grafts do not dry out. In about two weeks the grafts will have taken to the base mum and should start to grow. During the summer, we remove the side shoots and keep the stems tied down so that the flowers are easier to arrange in the final form.

In September, we disbud each stem so that a single large flower for each variety remains. In October, we start framing for the final shape. Longwood’s framing is a modified version of the traditional Japanese style—ours looks more like a wedding cake. Each flower gets a rindai (white ring) placed underneath to support the flower so that it stays in good condition. The final decorated mum is positioned on a turn table so visitors can view all of the different chrysanthemum varieties.

In 2012, our mum has a total of 113 varieties and 146 flowers. You can find it in the East Conservatory. We hope you enjoy our rendition of this 18th century Japanese chrysanthemum art!

Final framing begins with a large mass of tangled mum stems and ends with a wedding cake of beautiful individually placed flowers

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The Art of Grafting Chrysanthemums

Tri-colored dome chrysanthemum on display at Longwood Gardens, 2009 (photo: L. Albee)

Ever wonder what is going on in the greenhouses at this time of the year? While you are enjoying the beautiful summer display, Longwood’s growers are already getting ready for fall! One of our biggest projects at this time of year is to complete the grafting process that allows us to grow the large specialty chrysanthemums that will be on display during our Chrysanthemum Festival.

Grafting chrysanthemums is not a common subject you learn in school. We were taught this special technique from Chinese and Japanese specialty chrysanthemum growers, and use it to make eye-catching specialty mum forms for our display. Grafting mums is very common in China and has a long history, but there are no written records of when it started. In Japan, the first record is found on an 18th century Ukiyoe, a wooden block printing. We began practicing this new technique a couple of years ago and are continually learning and experimenting to create new forms.

During last year’s display, we had many different forms, including the tri-colored dome, 100-cultivar, pagoda, tri-colored shield, and pom-pom. We first trialed the tri-colored dome in 2008. You might remember the first one was not perfect, but with practice we are getting better. We saw our first pagoda shape in 1995 when somebody brought us a picture. We had no idea how to make it until we saw a Chinese display in 2010. We had tried various, small experiments but were unable to finish until we learned hands-on, and last year’s pagoda was our first on display.

100-cultivar chrysanthemum, 2011 (photo: L. Albee)

Pagoda chrysanthemum, 2011

Tri-colored shield chrysanthemum, 2011

Pom-pom chrysanthemum, 2011

We graft our chrysanthemums on two different stocks—either on chrysanthemum stock or Artemisia (Artemisia annua) stock. You may be familiar with Artemisia annua, commonly known as sweet Annie or annual wormwood. We use the Artemisia to get the benefit of its strong root system for summer heat, disease and insect resistance. It also has many side shoots that grow close together on the stem and a tall growth habit.

Artemesia with grafted mum tips

The grafting style we use is called “cleft style.” As you see in this video, we slice the stock stem down the center and insert the tapered grafting tip into the slit. Then we carefully wrap it with Parafilm, which is commonly used in laboratories. It holds the grafted tip tightly in place, seals the cutting area and helps the cut surfaces not to dry out. In two weeks, the tip tissue connects to the stock and it starts growing. The key to successful grafting is for the stock stem to be young and fresh (the inside green with no pith). Sometimes the Artemisia stem accepts the graft with some pith inside, but it’s difficult to get good results. Matching the stem thickness between stock stem and grafting tip is also important to connect the vascular systems together.

In hot and dry conditions, the grafted plants are kept under shade cloth and misted as needed. Sometimes, we use small plastic bags to keep the grafts moist. In this year’s wet and cloudy conditions, grafting is going well without misting or using the plastic bags, but it depends on the day.

A pagoda form with the grafts protected by plastic bags

Creating our specialty mum forms is a year-long process. For example, to make the pagoda form, we start Artemisia seeds in fall and grow in cool conditions. Then we graft the chrysanthemum tips in May and June, once the Artemisia stems get thick enough to match to the chrysanthemum shoot. As the Artemisia stems grow thicker, we will graft several chrysanthemum stems, according to thickness, at a time. We pinch the tips to promote more stems until the middle of July, and disbud to one flower in September. Just before flowering, we arrange the flowers to make the roof shape, using twist ties and bamboo.

Soon we will begin grafting the 100-cultivar chrysanthemum for this year’s display. Stay tuned to our blog for more on that later this summer!

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