Ge Garden: Chrysanthemum Viewing

Every year, when the autumn wind blows, it's time to enjoy the chrysanthemums in early winter. In addition to its bamboo and rockeries, Yangzhou's Ge Garden is also one of the first national flower culture bases. The "Lan Garden" in the garden is home to precious flower bonsai. During the chrysanthemum viewing season, many rare single-petal chrysanthemums are placed along the road to the Lan Garden and on both sides of the flowerbed gate. Since ancient times, chrysanthemums have been a symbol of integrity and elegance, and are known as one of the "Four Gentlemen" along with plum blossoms, orchids, and bamboo. Chrysanthemums are perennial plants and can be divided into wild, medicinal, and ornamental varieties. Ornamental chrysanthemums are cultivated for viewing in late autumn and early winter, and have a history of more than 2,000 years. Ornamental chrysanthemums can be divided into single-petal, tower, and cliff varieties. Most of the chrysanthemums in Ge Garden are single-petal, meaning one flower per plant. The larger the flower, the rarer it is. The petals can be flat, spoon-shaped, or tubular, and can be needle-shaped, thread-shaped, claw-shaped, hook-shaped, or ball-shaped. The rarer the color, the more precious the flower. Ge Garden displays these unique single-petal chrysanthemums: "Green Peony," "Red Flag," "Huang Shigong," "Panlong Beauty," "Golden (Silver) Back Red (Pink)," "Ten Zhang Bead Curtain," and more. Each one is a rare treasure and a top-quality flower. Of course, don't worry about the names of the flowers. Since ancient times, there have been many "chrysanthemum spectrums," and the names of flowers with the same shape vary greatly, but they are all "beautiful" names that reflect people's perception of elegance. When visiting the gardens of Jiangnan, seeing these precious chrysanthemums is a pleasant surprise.