菊まつり, Chrysanthemum Festivals in Tokyo, Japan.

Chrysanthemums Festivals have already begun in Japan. In Tokyo, they are held in parks and shrines between October and November. 

This tradition started a long time ago, when Tokyo was called Edo and the passion for ornamental flowers spread from nobles to common people. During the Edo period (1603-1868), an increasing range of new hybrids not only enriched the large gardens of the noble families in Edo, but also the small plant collections cultivated in beautiful pots of the inhabitants with no gardens. Small shrubs and herbaceous plants were favoured and special attention was given to form in new flowers. Camellias, peonies, lotus, primulas, Iris ensata, Adonis ramosa, Ipomoea and Dianthus superbus are just few of the flowers that, over the years, gained the title of the most fashionable and sought after. There were also chrysanthemums, of course, not the native species, with little, simple flowers, but varieties introduced from China in the late eight century, mainly for their medicinal properties. Their beauty and prestige, which came from the power to provide Eternal Youth, soon conquered all, and the craze for chrysanthemums exploded between 1764 and 1772. In Edo, the best chrysanthemums were sold in the village of Somei, today Komagone area. In autumn, new varieties with poetic names and unusual forms were presented by nurserymen following strictly codified styles of cultivation and arrangement. The same styles that, last year, I saw at several Kiku (Japanese for chrysanthemum) Festivals in Tokyo. 

The Ninth Month (Kikuzuki) from the series annual Events for Young Murasaki
 Utagawa, Kunisada (1786-1864), 1853

I did not find stalls with the blue and white checkered roof that, in old prints, seems peculiar to flower exhibitions but the beauty and variety of flowers was amazing. Flowers are divided according to their size in large, medium and small. There are countless varieties for each group and many different styles to cultivate them. Large chrysanthemums of the 'astumono' variety, for example, can be cultivated in a three-branch plant, with a flower at the top of  each stem. The three branches represent the sky, the earth and the man. Small flower chrysanthemums are preferred for more artistic arrangements, such as bonsai or dolls. 'Saga-giku', 'Ise-giku', 'Higo-giku' and 'Edo-giku' are the names of the main varieties of medium flower chrysanthemums. Their names recall their areas of origin and their shape and arrangement are even more special ...  
For those travelling to Tokyo in these weeks, there is still time to discover them. Don't miss them and please let us have your photos!

Large flower chrysanthemum: 'astumono'  grown in three-branch plants

'kudamono'

'ichimonji', a disc of paper supports the petals

Large flower chrysanthemum but small plants: Darumazukuri

Small flower chrysanthemum: Kengai bed

Small flower chrysanthemum: Bonsai form

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Hibiya Park, Tokyo, November 2015.

The Ninth Month (Kikuzuki) from the series annual Events for Young Murasaki Utagawa, Kunisada (1786-1864), 1853, woodblock print
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
https://ukiyo-e.org/

Further reading:
Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons, Haruo Shirane, Columbia University Press, 2012

Mutations, Heidi Bedenknecht-De Felice, Orticolario, Como, Italy.

Fantastic creatures, flowers, leaves and vines, climb the trunk of an old tree and sway in the air. Their bright colours and imaginary shapes are eye-catching. Changing light reveals their mysterious nature: mutations.

Heidi Bedenknecht-De Felice, German-born artist living in Como, created this installation made of fluorescent polycarbonate for Orticolario, the Flower Show held in late September at Villa Erba in Como. She interpreted the theme of this year, the Sixth Sense, inviting the busy visitors to look beyond reality with this representation of how human activities affect the environment and profoundly alter nature.

New species among anemones and camellias. 

   Installation and Details

Performance

Photos:

Heidi Bedenknecht-De Felice, Orticolario, Como (Italy), October 2016.

Link:

Orticolario, 

http://orticolario.it/heidi-bedenknecht-de-felice/

Giovane con canestra di frutta, 'Boy with a Basket of Fruit', Caravaggio 1593-94/ Ravo 2016.

Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), the Italian painter known as Caravaggio, painted 'Boy with a Basket of Fruit' towards the end of the sixteenth-century, probably in Rome. The portrait of the melancholic boy holding a basket is exquisitely expressive and detailed. Autumn fruits, in particular, are tempting with an abundance of fresh grape, peaches and figs. Medlars, apples, small pears and a pomegranate half hidden by the leaves add to the richness of the season. 

Today, this beautiful oil on canvas is on display at the museum at the Galleria Borghese in Rome AND on the external wall of a private house in Angera, a town on the shores of Lake Maggiore. 

In September, Andrea Ravo Mattoni transformed the painting in a huge mural, working  hard with spray cans for one week. 

With artistic studies at the Academy of Brera in Milan, Ravo has shift his spray cans from trains to walls, interpreting with his murals the works of the most famous Italian painters. He has a special interest in Caravaggio, and a special talent for his paintings. 

 

Photos:TravelinaGarden, Angera, October 2016