Flower of the Month Chrysanthemum

The flower of the month of November is the Chrysanthemum. There are hundreds of species of chrysanthemums, from the button mum to the daisy we love them all.  Here is a little history about this versatile flower.


Chrysanthemums can trace there history all the way back to 15th century (BC) in China.  It started as a flowering herb, but now it's so much more.  The Chrysanthemum even became the "official seal" of the emperor of Japan in the 8th century.  The original color was golden, now it has so many different shades, shapes, and variations.


Chrysanthemum blooms are divided into 13 different bloom forms by the US National Chrysanthemum Society, Inc., which is in keeping with the international classification system. The bloom forms are defined by the way in which the ray and disk florets are arranged.

Chrysanthemum blooms are composed of many individual flowers (florets), each one capable of producing a seed. The disk florets are in the center of the bloom head, and the ray florets are on the perimeter. The ray florets are considered imperfect flowers, as they only possess the female productive organs, while the disk florets are considered perfect flowers as they possess both male and female reproductive organs.

Irregular Incurve: These are the giants of the chrysanthemum world. Quite often disbudded to create a single giant bloom (ogiku), the disk florets are completely concealed, while the ray florets curve inwardly to conceal the disk and also hang down to create a 'skirt'.

Reflex: The disk florets are concealed and the ray florets reflex outwards to create a mop like appearance.

Regular Incurve: Similar to the irregular incurves, only usually smaller blooms, with nearly perfect globular form. Disk florets are completely concealed. They used to be called 'Chinese'.

Decorative: Similar to reflex blooms without the mop like appearance. Disk florets are completely concealed, ray florets usually don't radiate at more than a 90 degree angle to the stem.

Intermediate Incurve: These blooms are in-between the Irregular and Regular incurves in both size and form. They usually have broader florets and a more loosely composed bloom. Again, the disk florets are completely concealed.

Pompon: *Note the spelling, it is not pompom. The blooms are fully double, of small size, and almost completely globular in form.

Single/Semi-Double: These blooms have completely exposed disk florets, with between 1 and 7 rows of ray florets, usually radiating at not more than a 90 degree angle to the stem.

Anemone: The disk florets are prominently featured, quite often raised and overshadowing the ray florets.

Spoon: The disk florets are visible and the long tubular ray florets are spatulate.

Quill: The disk florets are completely concealed, and the ray florets are tube like.

Spider: The disk florets are completely concealed, and the ray florets are tube like with hooked or barbed ends, hanging loosely around the stem.

Brush & Thistle: The disk florets may be visible. The ray florets are often tube like, and project all around the flower head, or project parallel to the stem.

Exotic: These blooms defy classification as they possess the attributes of more than one of the other twelve bloom types.

Thank you Wikipedia for this information.

We use Chrysanthemums in our work just about every day.  They add color, texture, and they last for a long time.  We even have a "sunshine bouquet" that is made up of chrysanthemums and it sells for just $4.99. 

Here are a few things we have made using chrysanthemums, you can see the variation in not only the color but the textures as well.

Recital Season Begins~

Recitals, oh the joy on all of those little faces.  They work so hard to learn all of the steps, get the timing just right, and make their parents proud.  All year long they practice their twirls.  Then the big night comes and the lights go up, and it's their turn to shine.  What do little girls love almost as much as dancing?  Well flowers of course!  


That is why The Secret Garden specializes in making those little dancing queens smile.  We stock up on multiple colors of pastel roses and flowers to fill a little bouquet just for them.  We showcase our wares every year at The Lincoln Theater when The Dance Centre has their recital.  Here are some shots from our booth last year.  


Our basic presentation bouquets can be custom made just for your little one.  You can choose the colors, the flowers, and let us do the rest.  This year we have added a new gift.  We call her "Tiny Dancer".  She is just $10.00 with a water pick on the bottom or $15.00 in a small glass vase.  You can call and order one and we will get her all made up for the big night.  


We also have stuffed animals, balloons, and much more.  Stop in and see our full selection at: 
1215 E. Pershing Rd. in Decatur.
Or give us a call at: 875-9038 so we can make something just for you.

Designer's Choice ~ When only the best will do

So there you are sitting at the computer trying to find the perfect floral arrangement for that someone special.  You are flipping through hundreds of pictures trying to decide what to get.  We can help with that.  We can make it simple.  We can make the person who receives your flowers say ohhh ahhh.  The best part, you don't have to decide on anything!  Simply choose our Designers Choice bouquet and we will do the rest for you.

Florists are artists by nature.  Each empty vase is like a blank canvas and the flowers are the paints to choose from.  When we see the occasion, who it is going to, what your message is to that person, a story starts to take shape.  We start to see what you want to express with your flowers and the inspiration flows.  We look at that vase and say, "I know what I want to do".  Then we select the flowers, greenery, and accents to create that bouquet.  It will be one of a kind, it will be unique, and it will be made with love and care.  This is what we love about being florists, this is what we live for everyday. 

We have no problem creating a stock design for you.  We do hundreds of these a week.  Some days we even have the same bouquet going to 2 or 3 different people.  Heck we have even had to call and request a change in order because the same bouquet was going to the same funeral.  That is one major downside of picking a stock image, it's not that unique.  

The other major downside of choosing this option is flower selection.  The bouquet you pick may look like the image above, but are those flowers in the cooler today, maybe.  Maybe we had a run on stargazers and we are all sold out, what then.  Everyone seems to think that florists have every flower, every day of the week, that is just not possible.  Then we go to "as similar as possible", and your bouquet will change.  Will it be beautiful, yes it will, will it be exactly as shown, no it will not.  You also have to take into account that flowers are natures product, this weeks pink rose may be bright and vibrant where as next weeks may have a different tint all together.  This will also change the overall appearance of your bouquet. 

So the next time you are in the market for flowers let your florist help you decide.  

If you are one of our customers we make it easy to order a florist choice bouquet online ~ Here from our website.  You can also stop in and see what is fresh in the cooler, 1215 E. Pershing Rd.  Or pick up that phone and give us a call at 217-875-9038 and we will talk you through it.