Two bonus arrangements to showcase my fall mums
![Vintage creamware urn with fall foliage and orange-copper chrysanthemums](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sqIMG_8484-1024x900.jpg)
![My second arrangement in a handmade Kara Wise vase.](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/H2IMG_8497-1024x683.jpg)
In the weeks leading up to today, Thanksgiving Day, I have continued my year-long “Slow Flowers Revisited” series, a project to redesign each of the 52 weekly floral arrangements I originally created for my 2013 book, Slow Flowers: Four Seasons of Locally Grown Bouquets from the Garden, Meadow and Farm.
![Mums, and more](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/LFIMG_8499-1024x683.jpg)
![Cotinus](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/VIMG_8491-683x1024.jpg)
The dahlias are over, and there’s hasn’t been much left in the garden, bloom-wise, other than our diehard but tiny roses. But . . . I have been waiting to use the gorgeous chrysanthemums all season! I grew several varieties from small starts in 2022, but only one survived last winter and returned this season. It is incredibly prolific.
![Glorious mum petal detail](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/featured_IMG_8485-1024x683.jpg)
I’ve been interviewing so many flower farmers lately, and in answer to my question about pinching my mums, the advice is so varied! But I didn’t pinch or disbud this year, and as a result, the stems produced voluptuous sprays of multiple flowers.
I created two arrangements using the same ingredients:
- Chrysanthemums (variety unrecalled)
- Ferns
- Golden Cotinus
- Cotinus ‘Grace’
- Ninebark ‘Diabolo’
- Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
More Details:
![Cranberry viburnum](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/detail-viburnumIMG_8503-1024x683.jpg)
![Foliage details](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FIMG_8495-1024x683.jpg)
![Glorious mum petal detail](https://slowflowersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fern-and-mum-detail.png)
The colors are so varied and as the days have passed, it has been fascinating to watch the ferns dry and become wheat-colored, as well as watching the changes in the foliage. And through it all, those mums continue to look pretty amazing.
Note to self: Add more mums to the garden next spring. They are a beautiful remedy for the bloom-deprived at this time of the year!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, friends!