I recommend everyone start a Chrysanthemum (especially beginners)

[RozendaalArts]

Chrysanthemum indicum are easy to find almost all year round, they're cheap, and I think they're great for beginners because you can prune them often, even repot them multiple times a year, and if you fail you can start over real easily from cuttings too. The only thing they're not good for is practicing wiring, as branches aren't flexible.

They can be kept both indoors and outdoors, the one in the picture has been kept indoors and is about 2 years old. If kept outdoors they do die back to ground level after frost.
It was really full because I'd let it grow for a while, then repotted it two weeks ago and just pruned it again. Forgot to take a picture before pruning, but the bareroot picture is from the repotting two weeks ago.

This indoor one didn't flower last year, maybe because I pruned it too close to autumn, not sure, and another one I kept outside had buds but the eather was continually cloudy last year so they didn't grow and eventually froze before opening. So getting them to flower at the right time is still a challenge but also fun to experiment with to figure it out.

I hope more people will try Chrysanthemums because it's so hard to find anything on Chrysanthemum bonsai, and they're really fun to do a lot of work to to try and make something nice in just one year.




Here's also pics from last december of two other plants I had kept outside.

 

[rockm]

Chrysanthemums In Spring?

It is spring and my garden is beginning to display brilliant colors, so what am I doing sharing information on chrysanthemums now? There is an active thread on the Bonsai Nut Bonsai Forum discussin…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

 

[Russ1]

With Chrysanthemum, at least for growing outdoors, if you prune after mid July you remove the flower buds.

 

[RozendaalArts]

With Chrysanthemum, at least for growing outdoors, if you prune after mid July you remove the flower buds.

I last pruned my outdoor one late September, the first buds appeared a month later. But it can depend on your climate, here they don't bloom till mid November. Maybe mine had less buds due to the pruning, but there's also the question of timing, if I had let it grow since July then the new shoots would've been half the plant long by the time it flowered.

 

[oranjeaap]

Any specific species? The ones I commonly see at the garden center etc dont seem very suitable.

 

[RozendaalArts]

Chrysanthemums In Spring?

It is spring and my garden is beginning to display brilliant colors, so what am I doing sharing information on chrysanthemums now? There is an active thread on the Bonsai Nut Bonsai Forum discussin…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

Interesting article, I'd love to get my hands on some of the species they use in Japan, the more daisy-like chrysanthemums with smaller flowers. I've never seen them sold here in Europe, but maybe there's some international seller offering seeds? I'll also have to find a copy of that book mentioned in the article

 

[RozendaalArts]

Any specific species? The ones I commonly see at the garden center etc dont seem very suitable.

I'm using C. Indicum, precisely the most common one, sold everywhere from the garden center to the supermarket. Probably a far cry from what they use in Japan but I'm surprised at what I've been able to do with it so far

 

[leatherback]

I must be missing something. Why would you recommend a herb for bonsai?

 

[RozendaalArts]

I must be missing something. Why would you recommend a herb for bonsai?

It's not a herb, maybe Indicum is not entirely the right name, it's also often referred to as Morifolium, but that seems to also be used as an umbrella term for any cultivated chrysanthemum. Either way, I'm talking about the one most commonly found as a potted plant at flower shops. Wide range of colors, relatively small flowers (not small in bonsai terms but in general)

 

[leatherback]

Either way, I'm talking about the one most commonly found as a potted plant at flower shops. Wide range of colors, relatively small flowers (not small in bonsai terms but in general)

And this is a trunk forming, woody plant?

 

[RozendaalArts]

And this is a trunk forming, woody plant?

If kept outside it's an annual, the stem does get woody, though not much thickening to speak of, which is why they're often used with Tanuki techniques. The japanese use an even smaller-flowered variety but it's a well-known tradition over there and the challenge is to create something good within one year. The reason I'm recommending it is because the annual nature allows for quick do-overs, and the compressed time period with multiple repottings in one year, and pruning almost as often as you want allows for sped-up learning about repotting, root pruning, and general pruning

 

[leatherback]

annual nature

So it is a herb after all!?

Sorry, but this seems to go against every bonsai concept that I am aware of.

 

[RozendaalArts]

So it is a herb after all!?

Sorry, but this seems to go against every bonsai concept that I am aware of.

Rosemary is a herb. A flowering annual is not necessarily a herb. Linguistics aside, just look up chrysanthemum bonsai in japan, or the Longwood Chrysanthemum festival, which among other artful displays includes Chrysanthemum bonsai.

 

[Paradox]

So it is a herb after all!?

Sorry, but this seems to go against every bonsai concept that I am aware of.

I think its a flowering plant, not a herb per se. Some people like them because they flower and IIRC they flower longer than most flowering bonsai.
There is/was a guy here on Long Island that grew and trained a lot of them.
Myself, I tend to agree with you, while interesting, I dont really consider them true bonsai

 

[rockm]

So it is a herb after all!?

Sorry, but this seems to go against every bonsai concept that I am aware of.

That’s kind of the point with chrysanthemum bonsai. They’re not all that permanent but a lot of people think they’re fun to work with

I have the Art of the Chrysanthemum book. It say the ephemeral temporary nature of chrysanthemum bonsai is the point of it. You can achieve any bonsai style in a year in surprisingly bonsai-like form

 

[rockm]

 

[Russ1]

Probably would make more of an accent plant. Not herb but a herbaceous type of stem. But then there is chrysanthemum tea.
There are 2 varieties available here; Garden mum, which is hardy and then the annual variety, not hardy here.
I'm not sure what they actually are without looking it up.. they don't even label plants a lot of times anymore..you have to guess.

 

[leatherback]

Rosemary is a herb.

rosemary is a shrub, not a herb. ,But sure. have fun.

 

[rockm]

 

[vesper818]

Chrysanthemum are treated as tender perennials here in California, often woody, bushy and live for many years.
In our gatden used to cut them back after fall blooming to the ground or woody stubs, and the would quickly resprout in the winter rains. Same treatment for fuchsia.
Sounds like either would make a fun project.