JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVIII, Issue XIX, 8 May 1897, Page 590

JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

It takes a long time to change a single flower to a double one, or to produce variations of colour and form. This holds trne of the rose and other garden flowers, and when we consider the subject, it becomes evident that it must have been centuries since the Chinese and Japanese gardeners began to improve the chrysanthemum from the little single flower which is supposed to be the original of all the varieties now in cultivation. Japan is really the home of the best varieties of chrysanthemum, as it isof the dwarf orange-tree, and of oaks a century old in six-inch pots. The highest distinction the Mikado can confer upon any of his subjects is the decoration of the chrysanthemum, and the flower is also the royal seal. For centuries it has been esteemed and beloved by the people, nobles and commons. The Japanese guard the choicest flowers with jealous care, and it is probable that varieties are cultivated in some parts of the empire that are quite unknown to Western travellers. It is even believed by some enthusiasts that either in China or Japan exists that fabulous flower, the blue chrysanthemum, which figures on old porcelain and is mentioned in written works. The author of the volume of travel entitled ' In the Track of the Sun’ says that he found the chrysanthemum show of a Japanese city a curious sight. Abutting on a narrow street were numerous gardens containing grottoes and theatrical stages, some of them revolving, as they do in Japanese theatres. On these were arranged in representation of historical or fabulous scenes, lay figures, whose clothing was composed entirely of growing chrysanthemums. In one place was a daimio, who was being dragged from his horse by a devil, and in another a warrior attacking a prostrate man, who shrank back, endeavouring vainly to defend himself. All these figures were of life size, and were fashioned in growing flowers.