Farm Update
Things are beginning to shape up at the farm for spring. We continue to see good progress with most of the early flowers. We’re busy getting seeds started and ordering what we need to get through the season. We got some new tables for the processing shed just in time for our new Forcing Bulb class. This time of year, we hold the classes indoors.
We’re using these rainy days to get caught up on lots of planning. It is exciting to look out through the year and organize our growing plans to make sure we have flowers blooming every week.
And I have been wanting to tell you about the Heirloom Mums for awhile and am just now getting it down in the blog. So, I hope you enjoy and also hope you have a very happy Valentine’s Day! We don’t have flowers this week, but a subscription or a bulb class seat might be the ticket. Godspeed.
Linda
Heirloom Chrysanthemums
Heirloom Chrysanthemum Saga No Yuki
In recent years there has been a growing interest in heirloom chrysanthemums. We’re not talking about potted mums that you can find in the fall at every garden center, but rather the more unique, tall, older varieties that have been passed down through generations. These plants pre-date modern hybridization techniques and are the result of natural selection and the passage of time.
Heirloom chrysanthemums have not been especially popular in traditional floristry trends. There was a time when a few varieties were overused and dyed shocking colors. Mums fell out of favor. Many of these beautiful flowers are no longer widely grown.
Fortunately, lots of varieties have been maintained by Chrysanthemum Societies, where plants are grown for show competitions. There is also a company called King’s Mums in Minnesota that has sold a diverse selection of heirloom mums with a wide variety of shapes and colors for many years. Awareness of these heirloom varieties, now grown by local flower farms, has resulted in renewed demand for these flowers.
One reason for their resurgence is their unique bloom time. Heirloom chrysanthemums bloom in late fall, often the last thing to bloom before winter sets in. They need to be protected from hard frost but can withstand the light frosts that we usually get around Halloween. Small flower farms use them for season extension benefits, a late crop to harvest and sell before winter sets in. They make wonderful Thanksgiving arrangements.
Heirloom mums are also an incredibly long-lasting cut flower. It is not unusual for them to have more than two weeks of vase life.
Since these plants are the result of natural selection, there are no patents on them. They can be freely reproduced. Chrysanthemums grow easily from rooted cuttings so this is the most common way to pass them along. Harmony Harvest farm in Weyers Cave Virginia is one of the farms that is taking the lead on expanding chrysanthemum production. They were written up in Southern Living for their efforts. In 2022, a collector of heirloom chrysanthemums passed away and the grower’s wife donated the entire inventory to Harmony Harvest.
Last year I grew 4 varieties as a trial and I am also convinced that the world needs to experience more of these flowers! They are categorized by their shape and by bloom time. There are early, mid and late blooming varieties. The actual time may vary based on where you are located.
Here in the Columbia area, I only grew the late varieties, which started blooming the last week in October. Early bloomers could start in the first week of October, and mid-season bloomers may start in the middle of the month. We are growing across all bloom times this year. If all goes well, some of these will be included in our fall bouquet subscriptions.
We will also have a special offering in mid-November, just in time for Thanksgiving. More to come on that.
Crimson Tide
Kermit
Growing
If you are a grower and interested in trying these beauties in your garden, you can order chrysanthemum cuttings in the spring. Harmony Harvest (https://www.hhfshop.com), Three Porch Farm (https://3porchfarm.com/) in Comer Georgia and Clara Joyce Flowers (https://www.clarajoyceflowers.com/mum-cuttings) in Illinois are three of the bigger farms that sell them.