Plant Journeys blog post #8 – Chrysanthemum: at the eastern fence

Originally a delicate and somewhat flimsy flower in China and Japan, as suggested by the following haiku by Matsuo Bashō (1644–94).

‘although very skinny
somehow the chrysanthemum
is in bud’

[Stephen Addiss, The Art of Haiku: Its History through Poems and Paintings by Japanese Masters, Shambala Publications, 2012, p. 7]

Through breeding, the chrysanthemum gained sumptuous and heavy blossoms. Hornel’s kimono pattern books display a great variety of chrysanthemum flowers, as can be seen in the images below.

Poems might contrast the chrysanthemum’s endurance with the ephemerality of cherry blossoms as in the haiku from the anthology Mutama River (Mutomagawa) of 1750 [2]:

‘chrysanthemums –
learn from cherry-blossoms
how to die’

[Stephen Addiss, The Art of Haiku: Its History through Poems and Paintings by Japanese Masters, Shambala Publications, 2012, p. 164]

Sir Abraham Hume (1749–1838), a well-known floriculturist, played a key role in introducing and popularising chrysanthemums by using his trade networks in China and India. The first illustration of these chrysanthemums was showcased in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (1795–96). At Hume’s family estate, Wormleybury in Hertfordshire, he conducted experiments and successfully increased the diversity of Chinese chrysanthemum varieties.

The chrysanthemum is featured on the sake bottle at the Broughton House exhibition, and this simple form is also used on incense boxes. In Japan, this particular form represents the sun and is often found adorning the back of the imperial throne.

Dr Törmä’s research can be explored further in the exhibition Plant Journeys: Stories of East Asian Plants in Hornel’s Home and Garden, which runs until 31 October at Broughton House, Kirkcudbright.