Here you see Chrysanthemums soaking up yesterday’s sun. These “Mums” are the ancient symbols for joy and happiness that many of us are now trying to spread in planters and vases on porches and along walkways.
The flowers originated in China, but their name derives from the Greek words for gold and flower. In China, their leaves are steamed as vegetables and their buds are boiled into a reportedly very healthy tea that has a high content of vitamins A and C.
In Japan, a stylized Chrysanthemum flower is the royal crest of the Emperor; it appears on Japanese passports. In a cruel, ironic twist on the joy that this flower represents, that stylized crest was featured on the prows of Japanese battleships and on other Japanese weapons during World War II.
(Images taken in Surry Garden and Brooklin, Maine, on October 4, 2022.)