What’s in Bloom

Chrysanthemum Festival fills our historic conservatories with color and artistry October 16–November 15, 2026. In the Exhibition Hall, yellow blooming tiered pagodas and living viewing stones, chrysanthemums trained into shapes inspired by natural rock formations and landscapes, set the stage for our most intricate floral exhibit of the year. These imaginative displays are just the beginning: explore the many chrysanthemum varieties, colors, and forms throughout the conservatories, from spirals and cascading baskets to clouds and towering columns. 

Japanese flowering dogwood, is native to eastern Asia. This tree delights in all four seasons. In late spring, after the foliage has emerged, it has an abundance of creamy white bracts which are long lasting. Flowers are followed by bright, red fruit that is a compound berry about one inch in diameter and resembles a raspberry.  These fruits are edible and a sweet and delicious addition to the tree's ornamental value. The deep red fall foliage and the stunning exfoliated bark give fall and winter interest.  Cornus kousa is slower growing and later blooming than other dogwood trees. With age it reaches 30 feet high and can look quite stately.

Traditional bonsai training techniques are used to create the beautiful specimens on display, including root and top pruning, wiring of stems to create the desired style, and frequent pinching. A new set of bonsai mums are started from cuttings taken in January. The actual training begins in early April. The woody stems develop over nine months and add to the look of age desired in these plants. Almost any tree or woody-esque plant can be shaped into a bonsai, but some are better suited than others. Special low-growing varieties of chrysanthemums, known as “gnome” chrysanthemums, are great for bonsai because of their small size, leaves, and flowers.  
 

Amsonia hubrichtii, brings a golden glow to the autumn garden as its fine, feathery green foliage turns brilliant yellow. This perennial native to Arkansas and Oklahoma also produces clusters of pale blue, star-shaped flowers in spring. Its name honors Leslie Hubricht, who encountered the plant in Arkansas in 1942, a lasting botanical tribute to a naturalist best known for his work with freshwater and land snails.

Snow Queen oakleaf hydrangea is an all season native, deciduous shrub, with deep green foliage during the growing season turning wine-colored in the autumn.  The panicles of white flowers bloom through June and into July fading to pink and finally a handsome russet in the fall. Snow Queen will grow to six feet high with an equal spread and does well in sun or shade. Hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9.

Beautyberry is a deciduous shrub with tiny, lavender flowers in summer, which form into showy, bright purple fruit that cover the arching slender branches in autumn. This tall shrub makes a lovely impact in the Garden with its burst of autumn color, whether as a single specimen or when planted in mass.  The fruit also provides a food source for many birds.

Widespread in its native home of South Africa, this plant favors loam or clay soils and can be found growing in full sun amongst rocks or grasslands. The orange flowers can be spotted from late summer, all through autumn, and attract birds and butterflies with their nectar, making the garden a hub of activity. Early South African dwellers (Khoisan) smoked the dried leaves and flowers, reporting a feeling of calm and euphoria, giving birth to the common name, wild dagga. The leaves are rough on the upper surface, with toothed margins and give off a herbal aroma when brushed or crushed.

Osmanthus heterophyllus is a broadleaf, evergreen shrub, indigenous to Korea, Taiwan and Japan, with glossy, deep green leaves with spines that resemble hollies. The little white blossoms that appear in October and November fill the garden with fragrance.  ‘Gulftide’ is a selection that grows to 5 feet tall and 3 feet across. It thrives in either sun or partial shade, and any type of soil, even dense clay.  Holly osmanthus is not eaten by deer and has no serious pests or diseases and can be cultivated as an individual specimen, combined with other shrubs, or shaped into a lovely hedge.

Chrysanthemum 'Hillside Sheffield' is a charming, hardy perennial known for its soft, apricot-pink daisy-like blooms that appear in late fall, often blooming well into November. Beloved by pollinators and gardeners alike, it adds a welcome splash of color when most other flowers are fading. This heirloom variety is known as a Korean hybrid, and has since become a cottage garden favorite for its easygoing nature and graceful, informal habit. Once established, 'Hillside Sheffield' returns year after year, thriving in full sun with minimal fuss. 

Now on display, the traditional Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum, white flowering form 'Susono-no-Tsuki'.  This ancient technique, known in Japan as Ozukuri, originated hundreds of years ago in Asia and is the most exacting and challenging of all Chrysanthemum training styles!  It takes 17 months and more than 2,000 staff hours to nurture and train this single plant into a perfect blooming dome with one central stem. Each large flower is evenly spaced apart from each other using a supporting frame. Disbudding plants to allow just one flower per individual stem to develop creates a larger bloom. Flowers all are similar in size and bloom at the same time. Fun Fact: Two of the large Thousand Bloom mum plants are grown to maturity, and the strongest plant is selected in October for final display.