Kiku

I went to the Kiku exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden this weekend for my Japanese Civilization cultural report and it was definitely an eye opener! "Kiku" is Japanese for chrysanthemums and is the insignia of the Imperial family. At first, chrysanthemums were grown for medicinal purposes and are associated with muths of long life and health.

At the exhibition, the chrysanthemums came in all different varieties. There was “Ozukuri” (Thousand Bloom):




And “Ogiku” (Single Stem):



The final type of chrysanthemums at the exhibition was “Kengai” (Cascade):


This trip to the garden was an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the Japanese cultivation of chrysanthemums, which were made possible by the long months of dedicated hard work of the horticulturists.

On an ending note, I would like to include my favorite photograph from the exhibition. This close up of a ozukuri blossom is already the wallpaper for my computer: