The Nikitsky Botanical Garden chose the Queen and Princess of the Chrysanthemum Ball

CrimeaPRESS reports:

At the 70th anniversary exhibition of chrysanthemums in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden — the National Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this time 40,000 plants were planted.

Among the 452 presented varieties and hybrid forms, the majority were chrysanthemums bred by NBS-NSC breeders — 263. For comparison, let us recall: 9 years ago, in the first autumn after the Crimean spring, 200 varieties and forms of chrysanthemums were presented at the exhibition site, incl. 60 Crimean breeders.

Voting for the Queen and Princess of the Sun of Autumn Ball took place directly at the exhibition area (a colorful box was installed there, where Garden guests threw ballots, indicating the name of the contenders’ favorite variety). The votes were also counted on the NBS-NSC website and on social media pages. Voting took place in two stages. At the first of them, five finalists were identified, and the most beautiful chrysanthemum of the year was chosen from among them. What epithets did the voting participants give to their favorites? But the Symphony variety received the most compliments, as well as votes (56%), — note the press service of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden.

24% of the votes went to the chrysanthemum “Astroid” (a confident second place), 11% to the “Red Banner”, the rest were shared in this brilliant five by “Miss Universe” and “Ursa Major”.

The “Symphony” variety was created in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden by our breeder Natalia Smykova in 2013, – comments by the director of the NBS-NSC, corresponding member. RAS Yuri Plugatar. – “Symphony” is a real beauty, tall and stately. It stands out impressively among other flowers with its original, openwork, floating inflorescences, which, by the way, are highly valued by Japanese and Chinese breeders and florists. So “Symphony” deservedly received its crown, eclipsing all its rivals. And, of course, it is very valuable that the exhibition of chrysanthemums in our Garden takes place in the open ground, and not in greenhouses. Of course, all flowers are beautiful. But those that grow in harsher conditions, delighting us with their beauty despite any weather conditions, are endowed with a special character and charm. So it’s not in vain that we say “Vivat to domestic breeders!” – they create truly unique creations.

Indeed, this variety reaches a height of 130-150 cm, and experts describe the inflorescences of “Symphony” as lilac-terracotta-red, ray-curly, semi-double, very large, with a diameter of 22-27 cm.

The chrysanthemums lasted in the Nikitsky Garden throughout November, even surviving the “storm of the century.” As Vera Zykova, Ph.D., head of the floriculture laboratory at NBS-NNSC, says: “On the second day after the storm, when the sun was shining and snowflakes were flying, the guests of the Garden looked in amazement at the queen chrysanthemums of past years. The “Vasily Lanovoy” variety (which received the crown last year) and the first winner of this title, the “Anastasia” chrysanthemum, showed particular endurance.

Princess Bala – chrysanthemum “Happy Crimea”

The hybrid form of small-flowered chrysanthemum “Happy Crimea” was created in 2014 by NBS-NSC breeder Zoya Andryushenkova. Low-growing, up to 50 cm high, belongs to the group of pot-border chrysanthemums, used both in floral decoration for borders and as a potted crop.

An inflorescence with a red color that does not fade in the sun, semi-double, chamomile-shaped, inside a small-flowered garden group with a large diameter of 7.5 to 8.0 cm. In the conditions of the Southern Coast of Crimea, the flowering period is medium-late, the beginning of flowering is the third ten days of October — the first ten days of November.

source: press service of Nikitsky Botanical Garden

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