Fall's Fresh Flowers
by Josh Grossman
http://www.beyondblossoms.com
Chrysanthemums are to the fall what tulips are to the
spring. Florists have long relied on chrysanthemums because
of their long life span of up to two weeks. Fall gardeners
enjoy the vitality of the fresh flowers in the yard, while
decorators enjoy the flowers' versatility in the home. With
their many colors, and various forms, mums have provided
happiness for thousands of years.
There are a wide variety of mums. Some classifications
include spider mums (flower petals long and tubular, with
hooked ends), football mums (fancy mums with incurving
petals), and pompon mums (small, stiff, almost globular
flowers). Flower colors include white, yellow, orange,
bronze, red, purple and pink.
Perennial chrysanthemums are native to the Orient and
Russia. Annual forms are native to the Mediterranean. The
first known cultivation of chrysanthemums was in the 15th
century B.C. in China. Chinese herbalists boiled the flower
roots as a headache remedy, ate the flowers in salads, and
brewed flower leaves to make a festive tea. The dew found on
the flowers was collected to promote longevity.
In the 8th century A.D., the chrysanthemum appeared in Japan
where the locals adopted a single flower as the crest and
official seal of the Emperor. The Japanese even have a
National Chrysanthemum Day, known as the Festival of
Happiness. In 1753, Swedish botanist Karl Linnaeus introduced
the flowers into the Western world, combining the Greek words
"chrysos" meaning gold and "anthemon" meaning flower, to
name this flower "chrysanthemum". The first commercial
production of mums began in the late 1940's as florists
began utilizing the flowers in corsages.
Mums can be very easy to work with, and fall pumpkins make
fun accessories for mums. The easiest thing to do is to
create an arrangement of fresh flowers, place them in a jar
of water, and place this jar inside the pumpkin. A pumpkin
can also be used as a vase. After it's hollowed out, use
flower arranging foam to hold leaves, mums, and filler
flowers. Golden-yellow and red-bronze mums are a striking
combination.
An easy fresh flower arrangement is to arrange mums in a
shallow bowl. Cut the stems of your flowers to touch the
bottom of the bowl while the flowers just reach the top of
the bowl. Place light color flowers across the center of
bowl and arrange the dark color flowers on either side of
the light ones.
A hand-tied spiral bouquet with raffia is a simple but
beautiful design. Gather three to five stems of mums in your
hand. Begin the spiral placement by placing additional
flower stems at a 45-degree angle against the rest of the
bouquet. After three to five stems have been added in this
fashion, twist the bouquet in your hand and add additional
flowers using the same method. Bind the flowers by wrapping
raffia several times around the flower stems at the point
you held the flowers.
You can also send flowers to someone you care about. Online
florist Beyond Blossoms (http://www.beyondblossoms.com)
offers hand tied mum bouquets including one called Wild
Harvest consisting of red rover mums, football mums,
daisies, safari sunset, and curly willow.
Today, with their beauty, durability and variety of colors,
mums are highly favored by consumers and florists alike.
Josh Grossman is cofounder of online florist Beyond Blossoms
(http://www.beyondblossoms.com). The company's mission is to
send flowers fresh from the farms at low prices and with
great designs. Josh wants customers to enjoy the shopping
experience and buy flowers with confidence.
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