History Chrysanthemums have been cultivated for 2,000 years in China, where infusions of the leaves and flowers were used as medicine and fermented into wine. Often Chrysanthemums are used to make tea, rather than in a wine infusion.
Chrysanthemum tea has many purported medicinal uses, including an aid in recovery from influenza, acne and as a “cooling” herb. According to traditional Chinese medicine the tea can aid in the prevention of sore throat and promote the reduction of fever. In Korea, it is known well for its medicinal use for making people more alert and is often used to waken themselves. In western herbal medicine, Chrysanthemum tea is drunk and used as a compress to treat circulatory disorders such as varicose veins and atherosclerosis.
Chrysanthemum tea is a flower-based tisane made from chrysanthemum flowers of the species Chrysanthemum morifolium or Chrysanthemum indicum, which are most popular in East Asia. To prepare the tea, chrysanthemum flowers (usually dried) are steeped in hot water (usually 90 to 95 degrees Celsius after cooling from a boil) in either a teapot , cup, or glass; often rock sugar is also added. a The resulting drink is transparent and ranges from pale to bright yellow in color, with a floral aroma. In Chinese tradition, once a pot of chrysanthemum tea has been drunk, hot water is typically added again to the flowers in the pot (producing a tea that is slightly less strong) ; this process is often repeated several times.
Deigning with Chrysanthemum’s
Disbud
- Named after the process of removing the laterals blooms and has one large bloom at the top of the stem
- Two types of disbuds:
- A Spider is distinguished by its tubular petals.
- Any disbud without this characteristic is a Cremon.
- Disbuds are used as a focal flowers in arrangements and bouquets.
- The average size of a Disbud bloom is 7-9cm in diameter.
Spray Pompon
- have many lateral stems off the main stem, all of which have flowers.
- are desirable to design with because these laterals can be broken off and used as individual blooms in arrangements and bouquets.
- all Chrysanthemum plants would develop as sprays if they were not disbudded.
Poms
- the staples of floral design and can be used as focal, feature or filler flowers in arrangements
- the wide assortment of color makes them suitable in both every day and holiday occasions year-round
- use in hand-tied bouquets to add volume, color and texture.
Spider Mum
- Each stem has a single head with long tubular spider like petals, and a bulb-like center.
- They are great to work with any wedding bouquet, table centerpiece or flower arrangement.
- Spider mums are available in natural white, yellow, pink, purple, bronze and green colors and can be ordered tinted.
