Chrysanthemums transform Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden into a vibrant landscape during dark fall weeks

As the sun rises on a quiet November morning, the rain pauses and dots of color appear along the gray streets of Portland’s Chinatown. Bouquets of yellows, magentas, pinks and greens shuffle across the streets, obscuring the faces of their porters in a multicolored parade into the Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Inside, florists and their assistants work quickly to set up their workspaces with the materials needed for the day: scissors, twine, wire, ladders, light fixtures and plenty of chrysanthemums.

Each year, floral designers compete for a spot in the Lan Su Chinese Garden’s annual Chrysanthemum Festival and Floral Design Showcase. The festival, inspired by the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrates the chrysanthemum as a Chinese symbol of nobility and longevity. Cultivated in China since as early as 700 B.C., the chrysanthemum — known more commonly as a “mum” — is unlike other flowers. It blooms in the fall and, in Oregon, reaches peak bloom in November.

“As other plants are going into sleep in the winter, the mum is coming into its own,” said Josie Losh, the curator of horticulture at Lan Su. “This is a bright point in fall.”

This year, the festival features 81 mum varieties, 19 local floral designers and one featured designer. They are tasked with designing around the theme “Golden Blooms upon Autumn Waters.”

“In classical Chinese poetry, the chrysanthemum is referred to as jinying (金英), which literally means ‘golden blossom,’” explains Losh. “Autumn waters” refers to the lake in the middle of the Lan Su garden.

As the designers interpret the theme, the garden transforms. In one corner, a designer crafts a dragon out of fresh and dried flowers. Across the garden, chrysanthemums line a mirror, inviting viewers to reflect on everyday life and find joy in it.

Down another path, Emily Thompson weaves yellow mums and grasses along a rock formation to create the illusion of a cascading waterfall. Her piece, titled “The Odes,” is inspired by the first mention of golden blooms in Chinese literature in a collection of poetry from 1100 to 700 B.C.

“It’s a kind of a tribute to my mom, who is from Hong Kong,” said Thompson. “She grew up in America, so she didn’t really get a chance to learn about her culture or anything. So I’m kind of taking that on as second generation here in America.”

After three hours, designers finish their installations, and a team of judges walks the garden to evaluate each piece on its floral design technique and how well it matches the theme.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” said judge Annie Chen, a florist who teaches at the American Institute of Floral Designers and Floral Design Institute. “It was like Christmas.”

For Chen, the opportunity to celebrate the chrysanthemum is special because she considers it an overlooked flower in floral design work. “It is kind of like the backup dancer to the star flowers,” she said. “I actually use it a lot in my wedding work, and you probably wouldn’t notice until you really look closely.”

Losh notes that the chrysanthemum has a reputation as a “common” flower, but reveres it for its strength. “They have to be able to brave the wind and the cold and the rain,” she said. “So they have to be pretty tough.”

To put the chrysanthemum on full display this year, Losh has studied Chinese traditional floral art, called huayi, and created an arrangement for Lan Su guests to see.

“This art form actually is the predecessor to Japanese ikebana, which many people are familiar with, but many people do not know about Chinese huayi,” Losh explains. “It’s having a revival and Lan Su is very excited to be able to introduce this art form to our audience and let more people know about how amazing this art is.”

On that evening, guests enter Lan Su to experience the displays at night for the festival’s kickoff event, Nights of the Golden Flower. Amid the melodic sounds of a zither and twinkling lights reflecting across the lily-padded water, the garden transforms into a tranquil architectural landscape.

The dragon wins first place. Guests wander the garden, taking in the elegance of the designs.

For Losh, this is the culmination of nine months of work. “For a long time you really only see leaves and you see pests and then all of a sudden you start to see buds forming. And when that happens, it’s like, okay, the time is here,” she said. “All of this investment of fertilizing and pest control and the care of watering them throughout the hot summer, it all comes to this peak in November where we get to share them with everyone.”

The floral designs are on display until Sunday, Nov. 15. Festival activities run through Nov. 22.