It is, holi- the festival of colors, today. Winter is gone. The trees are shedding dry leaves. The various colors and shapes of Guldaudi are just a pleasant memory now. So I decided to do a post on Chrysanthemums.
The word, Chrysanthemum, is a combination of two Greek words, ‘chrysos’ meaning gold and ‘anthos’ meaning flower. Its botanical name is Chrysanthemum sps. It belongs to the Compositae family and the flower originated in China & Japan. How ever some say it was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks in 400 AD. It can grow up to a height of 15 cms to 120 cms. It can be propagated through root suckers or terminal cuttings or air/ground layering. It flowers after rainy season and before the winter fully sets in.
There are more than 250 varieties of Sevanti available in India. They have been classified according to the shape & size of the flower the plant produces. They can be broadly classified as large flowered & small flowered. There are 11 large flowered varieties. Namely, Incurved, Incurving, Reflexed, Intermediate, Ball, Quilled, Spider, Spoon, Single,Double & Decorative.
Small flowered variety are Korean Single & double,Decorative, Anemone, Pompon, Cineraria or Charm, Button, Quilled, Semi- quilled, Spoon & Stellate.
Cultivating Chrysanthemum is an art and you have to start around July-August to get full grown plants in full bloom by September to January. It is a popular plant in India. Various horticulture departments in India cultivate them and hold exhibitions annually.
In Jaipur, the Nursery in the Rajasthan University holds a highly successful, yearly, exhibition & sale of Chrysanthemum plants in full bloom.
Australians traditionally gift their mothers Chrysanthemums every Mothers Day.
Sevanti is the sanskrit name for guladudi or mums or chrysanths.
The YWCA in N. Delhi has been putting up the show ‘Glory of Chrysanthemums’ for more than 60 years now.
A Chrysanthemums Show is organized each year in the month of December at the Terraced Garden (Sector 33) in Chandigarh.
Chrysanthemum flowers generally signify fidelity, joy,long life & optimism. However a red colored flower signifies love. White colored mum signifies truth and loyal love & yellow colored mum signifies a slighted love.
National Chrysanthemum Society USA
This Jaipur! 