Yes Fran, 5 or 6 out of 25 would be a good number,outstanding even. As for blooming and Bonsai quality tho, it was an intense effort for one year/season by them. After the display I'd bet they just pitched them. Many times, for a display like that, the plants are 'forced' to make sure they are ready for the display. Then, once they are bloomed-out, the energy to make it through the dormancy period is gone. I would try to make one decent one for our socitys' fall dinner once in a while. They were always 2nd year plants. One year to grow and styled then not allowed to bloom. The second year they would get the final styling then allowed to bloom for the raffle. The bad news is that after all the work one of these would live maybe 4-5 years at the very most. You will probably make a very nice Mum Bonsai but, it is very labor intensive. You go...hey...we want pictures!!! There is a ton of information about this on the web and, pictures to look at for style. Bob

The flopping open is typical, helps make it look like some kind of goofy Shasta daisy with the leaves bunched together out on the ends of the stems and the flower heads on too short stems.

rouge - It is interesting to see how these are evaluated across the pond, but I wonder how that translates to our very different climate? I noticed in the report, it was mentioned their trial garden experienced one of the lowest winter temps in recent years: -17 C which equals around 1.4 F. As we all know, that's not considered very cold around here. I also noticed they mentioned a couple of pest problems I have never heard of. Come to think of it, I can't recall mums in my garden having any issues with pests other than rabbits. Still, an interesting read. Of the ones awarded in their garden trials, I have one - Ruby Mound. It is a nice plant and for a long time was one of my favorites, but I've discovered others I like better. Kevin

Hi High, As long as you put the peony hoopÂor whateverÂout early so the foliage & stems can grow to fit it, IÂm sure it would work. Pinching the mums a couple times would also help to keep them a little bit shorter. I never got around to pinching mine this year, so they got taller than they have in the past, and what I did, starting as soon as I realized how tall they were going to get, was to tie lightweight twine (string!) around the plants several times as they grew taller to keep the outside stems from flopping over. It works really well as long as the plant is flopping pretty much equally in all directions since the weight from each side counteracts the weight from the opposite side. When I have something that flops toward one side, I still tie twine all the way around the plant, but with 2 or 3 stakes on the side it needs to be pulled towardÂif that makes sense! Whatever you decide to do with mums, you need to start doing it when theyÂre still small and flexible. By late summer, the stems are getting woody and brittle. I donÂt use a hoop or other metal because I donÂt like the way it looks most of the summer while the plant is growing into it. And luckily I was able to get a large cone of green twine when my brother quit selling poinsettias and didnÂt need it anymore, so it really blends in and is virtually invisible. David, if you want more of the one purple mum, the easiest way to do it would be to dig it up VERY early next spring and divide the new growth off of the outside of the plant, making as many new ones as you wantÂand throw away the old, woody center. Ideally mums should have this done to them (no, I donÂt!) every couple years. (My parents used to grow mums commercially when I was a kid!) Skybird P.S. You need to take some of those flowers up to your crowÂs nest, High!