Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Family

Asteraceae

Botanical Name

Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Plant Common Name

Garden Chrysanthemum, Garden Mum

General Description

Beautiful mounds of brightly colored mums are the classic harbinger of autumn. Asian in origin, the common chrysanthemum has been cultivated for hundreds of years and there are thousands of varieties available that come in a wide array of colors and floral forms. In spring, this clump-forming herbaceous perennial puts forth dense stems lined with medium green, fragrant, lobed leaves. In late spring to early summer, these stems may be pinched back to ensure a more uniform shape and to increase the density of flowerbuds for fall.

Mums begin blooming in late summer or early to mid-fall. Their fragrant flowers may be single and daisy-like, semi-doubled or doubled and can be red, orange, yellow, white, purple, pink, bronze, burgundy or bicolored. Many cultivars are tender and are commonly treated as annuals, although they may reliably return as a perennial in certain, but not all, modestly cold winter climates.

Mums grow best in full sun and garden loam with good drainage. They look best planted in masses in mixed borders or in containers. Some mums are primarily grown for the cutflower industry, as year-round florist plants, or as exhibition specimens.

There 13 classes of chrysanthemums based on floral form:

1.
• Irregular Incurve: The highly ornamental mum flowers are very large, fully double and favorite specialty mums for exhibitions. Towards the top of the flowers have long, loose but dense petals that curve inwards, creating a rounded top. Towards the bottom of the blooms long petals loosely fall downwards and curl to create what’s called a “skirt”.

  2.

• Reflex: Bushy and uniform, these double flowers have a flattened top and flattened petals that curve downwards.

  3.

• Regular Incurve: Almost completely spherical, these fully double flowers that have rounded petals that curve upwards and inwards towards the flower’s center. They are much like irregular incurves but are smaller and lack skirts.

  4.

• Decorative: Most of the cushion mums on the market have decorative flowers. These are fully double and look much like reflex blooms but their petals face outward rather than downward.

  5.

• Intermediate Incurve: As the name suggests, these flowers are the intermediate between irregular and regular incurved flowers, in form as well as size. These fully double blooms have rounded petals that curve upwards and inwards. They are looser than regular incurves, but lack a defined skirt, unlike irregular incurves.

  6.

• Pompon: Tight, neat and button-like, pompons are fully double and tend to have flattened tops when first emerging, which become rounder as they age. These range in size from small to medium blooms.

  7.

• Single or Semi-Double: Often daisy-like in appearance, single or semi-double mums have central or disc florets that are visible. These tend to be flattened and their petals radiate outward from the center.

  8.

• Anemone: These are similar to semi-double flowers except their disc flowers are larger, raised and cushion-like. It is almost as if the blooms have a pompon-type flower surrounded by ray petals that radiate outward from the center.

  9.

• Spoon: Daisy-like in appearance, spoon-type mums may be single or semi-double and have central or disc florets that are visible. Their ray florets (petals) are slender at the base and have rounded, flared tips, giving them a spoon-like appearance.

  10.

• Quill: These are generally fully double and have loose, linear, tubular petals.

  11.

• Spider: One of the most fantastic of all mum flowers, spiders are fully double and have long, thin, tubular ray petals that are slightly curved or hooked at the ends. They have a loose, moppy appearance.

  12.

• Brush and Thistle: These may be single or double and have fine, tubular petals that ascend upward giving the flowers a brush-like appearance.

  13.

• Exotic or unclassified: These flowers fall outside all other floral classifications for chrysanthemum.