What do mammoths and Duluth, Minnesota have in common? Maybe you guessed the Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the Ice Age. We know that mammoths ranged as far south as modern-day Duluth during this time, but did you know there is a well-known autumnal floral display that not only has an association with mammoths and Duluth, but also the University of Minnesota cold-hardy plant research program?
Chrysanthemum 'MN98-E90-15' Mammoth™ Twilight Pink. Photo by David Hansen
Roughly 4,000 years after the reign of mammoths, ‘Duluth’ was one of the first winter-hardy garden mums (Chrysanthemum) introductions from the University of Minnesota cold hardy research program, introduced in 1939. Jumping forward to 2002, the well-known Mammoth™ series of Chrysanthemum was introduced, another result of many years of horticultural research.
Still widely available in the plant trade, the Mammoth™ series includes eight introductions. All eight of these plants have shrub cushion habits, meaning they are relatively large (20”-46” tall and 20”-48” wide) and feature a hemispherical shape completely covered with blooms. The cushion plant habit was invented at the University of Minnesota with the ‘Minn’ series, including ‘Minngopher’ and other cultivars. This plant habit now dominates the global garden or landscape chrysanthemum market.
Neil Anderson and Peter Asher (right), with potential future releases (large-size shrub mums) from the Chrysanthemum breeding program. Photo by David Hansen
Along with the aforementioned introductions, the University of Minnesota cold hardy research program is responsible for more than 90 Chrysanthemum introductions over 100 years, with research beginning in 1924.1 During this period, a total of 5 researchers paved the way for this notable breeding program:
- C.E. Cary (1924-1929)
- Lewis E. Longley (1929-1949)
- Robert A. Phillips (1949-1970)
- Richard E. Widmer (1949-1988)
- Peter D. Ascher (1988-1999)
- Neil O. Anderson (2000-current)
Not only is this breeding program the oldest public breeding sector of Chrysanthemum in the world, but it is also the only public sector Chrysanthemum breeding program in the United States.
画菊 Picture Book of Chrysanthemum. Hikone: Yao Yasutoyo (et al.), 1691. (Source)
Before the University of Minnesota delved into the breeding of Chrysanthemum for cold hardiness, recorded history states that pre-imperial China was already thousands of years ahead, cultivating Chrysanthemum, also known as 菊花 (Júhuā), as an herb. “Chrysanthemum flowers are rich in phenolic compounds and exhibit strong properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-allergic, anti-obesity, immune regulation, hepatoprotective and nephroprotective activities.”2 The plant's herbal properties led to its common use in teas, salads and broths.
Chrysanthemum exhibit in fair Japan. 1905. Griffith & Griffith, publisher. (Source)
At one time, these plants were reserved for growing only by the most noble members of society in China. In the 4th century A.D., the three kingdoms of Korea gifted seeds of Chrysanthemum to Japan. This gift resulted in a rise in the popularity of the plant within Japan, eventually leading to its status as the national flower. Following the plant's success in Japan, Chrysanthemum reached the Western world in the late 17th century and was cultivated in European gardens. About 100 years later, Chrysanthemum made its voyage to the United States, quickly exploding in popularity.
Chrysanthemum, Minneapolis, 1916.
Today, chrysanthemums are still an autumn staple in the U.S., whether they’re used in annual displays or for those that are hardy, as late-season pops of color in perennial borders. This past year, I worked with two graduate students to assess the status of the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum collections with University of Minnesota cold hardy introductions.
This assessment included a gap analysis of those introductions, or simply, what we have and don’t have represented in the plant collections at the Arboretum. A portion of this project included reviewing all of the Chrysanthemum introductions developed by the U of M breeding program to identify what gaps existed in the Arboretum’s collections. The students identified only 11 cultivars of the more than 90 U of M introductions represented in our living collections.
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Plant Growth Facilities on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. The greenhouses are used for research and teaching. Photo by David Hansen
The graduate student’s work resulted in a collaboration with Neil Anderson, professor in the Department of Horticultural Science and current director of the University's Herbaceous Ornamental Breeding Program, to obtain missing stock to add to the Arboretum’s collection.
Neil and his team had many stock plants available that could provide cuttings for propagation at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Plant Growth Facilities on the St. Paul campus. During the winter of 2023 and 2024, his team took hundreds of cuttings, resulting in more than 200 successful plants to be added to the gardens and collections at the Arboretum. In late spring/early summer of 2024, horticulturists at the Arboretum installed these plants in our collection of Chrysanthemum near the Daylily Collection. Additional plants were added to a perennial bed in the Chinese Garden. This project led to the reintroduction of 18 University of Minnesota mums back into the Arboretum’s collections; including a few highlighted below.
Photos by Natalia Ungashick
The peak season for garden mums is typically September through October, so be sure to stop by and check out the newest additions to the collection before the growing season comes to an end. To learn more about the Chrysanthemum introduced through the University of Minnesota cold hardy research program, head to the CFANS Minnesota Hardy webpage. For help locating cold-hardy Chrysanthemum at the Arboretum, use the Plant Finder tool.
Additional Resources:
- Andersen Horticultural Library
- Chrysanthemum Classifications
- Flowering Breeding and Genetics, Chapter 14, Chrysanthemum.
- National Chrysanthemum Society, USA
Sources
1 Anderson N. “Hardy Chrysanthemum Released Under a New Brand.” UM / MNLA MINNESOTA COMMERCIAL FLOWER GROWERS BULLETIN, 2002, pg.15, https://hortscans.ces.ncsu.edu/uploads/h/a/hardy_ch_52668e7c89568.pdf.
2 Sharma N, Radha, Kumar M, Kumari N, Puri S, Rais N, Natta S, Dhumal S, Navamaniraj N, Chandran D, Mohankumar P, Muthukumar M, Senapathy M, Deshmukh V, Damale RD, Anitha T, Balamurugan V, Sathish G, Lorenzo JM. Phytochemicals, therapeutic benefits and applications of chrysanthemum flower: A review. Heliyon. 2023 Sep 15;9(10):e20232. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20232. PMID: 37860517; PMCID: PMC10582400.
Nick Kreevich is the curatorial manager for the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and has been a part of the curatorial team since 2019. He oversees the documentation of the plant collections, assists the curator of plant collections with plant acquisitions and works with horticulturists to help maintain the intentions of gardens. He has worked at public gardens for 7 years, holding prior roles at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens and Longwood Gardens. He earned a B.S. in geography from the University of Louisville, focusing on research related to management of water resources and cartographic risk modeling for Zika virus.