I have seen some mum bonsai and have fallen for them. I have recently ordered some gnome mums from King's mums to be delivered in a few weeks. That will give me about 18-20 plants to play with. I just wish that there was more info on mum bonsai available.

There is a definitive text on bonsai from mums. Title: The Art of the Chrysanthemum by Tameji Nakajima. The book is out of print since 1965, but if you watch E-bay or do some scouting in the right places, you might be lucky enough to find a copy. I bought mine in a used book store for $2 US. E-bay copies usually go for $25-45.

Usually, plants that are to be displayed in Autumn will have been grown from cuttings started the Autumn previous. Just a tip - these plants develop very quickly & you need to formulate your growing plan as soon as you stick the cuttings. They won't be like trees where you allow them to grow unchecked & then look for the bonsai hiding in the tree. You'll need to devote plenty of time to their pruning & general well-being if you are to have a pleasing plant come Autumn.

Al

I got the idea to do this from the folks at the Bonsai/Penjing Museum (National Arboretum), and they started their cuttings in March to have beautiful finished bonsai by late October. I'll keep people posted on my progress, if there's any interest.

Fran

I would love to know how you progress with the mums. It sounds very interesting. My plants arrived last week and I am enjoying myself! I also have read that you should start them in the fall so I will try taking some cuttings in fall and also next spring and see which work out best. But I do expect my spring started plants to make nice bonsai as well.

John

What exactly is a mum bonsai? Is it a bonsai or a mum flower?

Yes Fran, 5 or 6 out of 25 would be a good number,outstanding even. As for blooming and Bonsai quality tho, it was an intense effort for one year/season by them. After the display I'd bet they just pitched them. Many times, for a display like that, the plants are 'forced' to make sure they are ready for the display. Then, once they are bloomed-out, the energy to make it through the dormancy period is gone.

I would try to make one decent one for our socitys' fall dinner once in a while. They were always 2nd year plants. One year to grow and styled then not allowed to bloom. The second year they would get the final styling then allowed to bloom for the raffle.

The bad news is that after all the work one of these would live maybe 4-5 years at the very most.

You will probably make a very nice Mum Bonsai but, it is very labor intensive. You go...hey...we want pictures!!!

There is a ton of information about this on the web and, pictures to look at for style.

Bob

Guys and gals, this Thread is quite old...a "necro-thread," we call it.

Can we please start a new Thread if there are questions?
Heck, make a link to the old Thread in the message, and say, "I was looking through old posts on mums, and found this Thread; however, it doesn't seem that the original posters are still present, but I was hoping you could answer my questions."

If we keep bumping super old Threads, our new living Threads will slip into obscurity.

Now, unfortunately, I, too, have brought this damned thing to the top.

Josh