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| red chrysanthemums |
As summer fades into fall, a different set of plants dominate the landscape. In my garden, the chrysanthemums that were an unassuming cluster of leaves all summer are now covered in blossoms. My fruit trees are dropping apples and haws. Burning bush (Euonymous) and maples start to turn color.
My garden is in Colorado but those are Chinese plants or plants also found in China. In the late 1800s and early 1900s "plant hunters" searched east Asia for garden plants. Many familiar garden plants--lilacs, peonies, ever-blooming roses, nandina, butterfly bush--are native to China, introduced to the West by the plant hunters.
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Chrysanthemums along the garden wall,
Suzhou, China |
The Chinese Chrysanthemum
Traditional Chinese culture noticed the progress of the seasons and cherished it. Plants were associated with seasons--plum blossoms in spring, orchid in summer, chrysanthemum with fall, bamboo in winter--to name The Four Gentlemen, also known at the Four Plants of Virtue. The right plant for the season was important. Having plants out of season brought bad luck.
