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Our world-class chrysanthemum collection features primarily cultivars and hybrids developed in Japan and China … and a rare Japanese book recently acquired by the Longwood Library reflects the beauty and the long-standing importance of the chrysanthemum to Japanese culture.

This month in the Peirce-du Pont House Conservatory, the beauty of bonsai is on full display—as is the beauty of learning and collaboration.

For many, seeing insects in a garden may lead to initial alarm and raise questions about what harm those insects could inflict on the plants. Not all insects, however, are bad and here at Longwood, we regularly release beneficial insects in certain parts of our Gardens.

This imaginative display serves as the largest and oldest of its kind in North America, and it’s a spectacular time of year in which we stretch our horticultural limits to put on a colorful show for our guests.

Here at Longwood, we always look forward to our annual Chrysanthemum Festival for so many reasons … it’s a chance for us not only to put on a colorful show of rare and beloved cultivars, but also a way for us to stretch our horticultural limits and proudly share with you the fruits of that labor.

Cherished for their exquisite beauty, rich hues, and delightfully distinct variations, chrysanthemums are in a class—or rather 13 classes—all their own.

Over the past 11 months, Longwood horticulturists have meticulously trained their chrysanthemum bonsai in preparation for Chrysanthemum Festival. The result is a collection of more than 90 beautiful plants, which can be viewed on a rotating basis through November 18, 2018.

At Longwood Gardens, we start planning for our Chrysanthemum Festival more than a year ahead of our display. At our July 2017 planning meeting for this year’s display, Longwood’s Associate Director, Display Design Jim Sutton brought with him a photo of a mum grown into the shape of a Japanese handheld fan. Jim suggested we try to grow one of our own here at Longwood, and our work began.

Renowned for its rare cultivars and imaginative forms, our Chrysanthemum Festival is the majestic embodiment of our unwavering dedication to preserving the time-honored technique and culture of mum-growing.

One definition of a "standard" is a norm by which similar things can be measured. In horticulture, however, a standard is a plant that is trained or grafted to have a single stem, and a crown of leaves and flowers. Combine the two meanings, and you have the degree of excellence achieved by Longwood in the beauty of its standard forms. Photo by Larry Albee.

This year, 230,000 chrysanthemum blooms fill our 4-acre Conservatory in forms of cascades, shields, spirals, pagodas and of course, our most impressive Thousand Bloom Mum yet, featuring 1,515 blooms.

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.

Do you hear the word chrysanthemum and picture those simple household flowers from the local garden shop? At Longwood Gardens, we take the ordinary mum and make it extraordinary, turning it into a work of art—the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum!