Hi all,

A friend of mine asked me if I could buy and send to him some seeds of
Japanese chrysanthemum. I went to a big flower shop and as I couldn't
find any seeds for sale I've asked someone there about this. He told me
that they don't sell seeds because I'll get no Japanese chrysanthemum
from seeds, only from cutting. He recommended me to buy some small
plants instead.

I have no knowledge of horticulture and from what I've found on the
net (ex.,
http://www.rhs.org.uk/learning/publi..._1198_saga.asp)
it is not clear for me why a Japanese chrysanthemum wouldn't grow from
seeds also. Can someone enlighten me on this issue?

Thank you.

"stephen" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all,

A friend of mine asked me if I could buy and send to him some seeds of
Japanese chrysanthemum. I went to a big flower shop and as I couldn't
find any seeds for sale I've asked someone there about this. He told me
that they don't sell seeds because I'll get no Japanese chrysanthemum
from seeds, only from cutting. He recommended me to buy some small
plants instead.

I have no knowledge of horticulture and from what I've found on the
net (ex.,

http://www.rhs.org.uk/learning/publi...urnals_garden_
1198_saga.asp)
it is not clear for me why a Japanese chrysanthemum wouldn't grow from
seeds also. Can someone enlighten me on this issue?

Mums are so easy and fast to grow from cuttings that it wouldn't be worth
the effort for people to grow them from seed. Furthermore, hybrids don't
always grow true from seeds. In other words, the characteristics that you
find desirable in the mother plant may not be passes on through seeds. (You
may have seen this around the Thanksgiving table.) In some instances plants
produce genetic mutations called "sports." The mutated part of the plant
can be asexually reproduced though methods like tissue culture, but when
they sexually reproduce, the mutation is not passed along. This is commonly
seen in hostas.

"stephen" wrote:

A friend of mine asked me if I could buy and send to him some seeds of
Japanese chrysanthemum. I went to a big flower shop and as I couldn't
find any seeds for sale I've asked someone there about this. He told me
that they don't sell seeds because I'll get no Japanese chrysanthemum
from seeds, only from cutting. He recommended me to buy some small
plants instead.

Japanese chrysanthemums such as:

ŒSagano yuki¹ white
ŒYokobue¹ pale pink
ŒFuji musume¹ pale pink, white tips
ŒSagano hikari¹ pure yellow
ŒSaga komati¹ dark pink
ŒSaranami¹ pure white.
ŒKishinoniji¹ light bronze
ŒKiyomigata¹ bronze
ŒKiyominokasumi¹ cream
ŒSenkyowakamizu¹ light purple

are hybrid cultivars and can't be propagated from seed. They must be
propagated from cuttings or tissue culture.

There are species of chrysanthemums from China, Japan, and Russia, but I
don't have the slightest idea of how to get seeds. There is a gene pool
in Japan, but they only distribute seed to hybridizers.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

Thank you all for the detailed explanations!