Lucky enough to befriend some well-connected girls, my roommates and I were “adopted” by their friends who owned a trattoria in our neighborhood. From late August until late October, we benefited from their kindness and were hosted for many meals. Finally feeling settled in our new space, we decided it was time to repay their kindness. We invited them to dinner and began planning, shopping and cooking.
The night arrived. Beautiful vegetables and fruits had been procured, the wine was breathing, and the only detail left was something pretty for the table.
With half of the household on guest watch, the other three of us scampered down the hill to the flower stalls near Piazza San Marco.
It was a perfect autumn evening with crisp, cool air. Gentlemen in wool coats walked their spaniels, and several flower stalls burst with the colors of the season. All the flowers were beautiful, but the ones that best suited our student budgets were the chrysanthemums.
I had never seen so many different flower shapes. Spiders and quills, pompoms and singles (looking like the daisies on my childhood Easter hats), and blooms from tiny to grand. The colors were equally varied: from pure white to burnt rust, sunny yellow, gold, and rich, deep claret. Mums in light lavender, deep pink and deeper reds tempted us as we turned from shape to shape and color to color.
When we reached a consensus, we purchased armloads (because we could afford them, and these were special guests) and climbed the hill back to our home.
Our other roommates were impressed with the abundance. We found every vessel suitable for flowers and cut, snipped and arranged. When the dining room was sufficiently adorned, we decided to put one vase of chrysanthemums at each of the four stair landings leading to our fourth-floor flat. Then we waited for our guests.
Not long afterward we heard the doorbell ring, and one roommate skipped downstairs to greet our honorees and escort them upstairs. We could hear their excited chatter as they began to climb the stairs. But then we noticed that the closer they got to our apartment, the quieter the giggles and chatter became. At last, they all walked sedately through the front door, worry and concern on every face except my roommate’s. She just looked confused.
We poured aperitifs and began to chat, but after 10 awkward minutes, two of us spirited our young Italian friend into the kitchen. There she apologized and explained that she and her parents would not have come had they known someone had died.
In Italy, we learned, you put out chrysanthemums only when someone dies. Who knew?
Fortunately, when our guests discovered that our loved ones were still very much alive, the evening picked up and everyone had a good time.
Chrystanthemums (Dendranthema grandiflorum) are wonderfully diverse. Classified according to bloom type, these free-flowering perennials bloom in October and November when other color in the garden is fading.
Chrysanthemums like full sun and well-drained soil. They look good in beds and borders, planted in mass or as specimens. They range from low mounds to six-foot-tall sprawlers. Because they have a strong odor, deer usually avoid them.
Mums do well when planted in containers, and they make terrific cut flowers, so choose colors you like to have in the house. For a bushy plant with masses of blooms, pinch growing tips to force branching. If you prefer fewer but larger blooms, remove some buds so those remaining are larger.
Years ago, I had a wonderful landlady who planted the side strip along our narrow driveway in a double row of staked chrysanthemums. Each mum was a different favorite of hers. There were small pompoms looking like little buttons, and deep rust incurves that reminded me of the geometric perfection of dahlias. There were lacy, spidery blossoms in deep purples and violet, and “single” chrysanthemums I first mistook for daisies in pure white and soft apricot. Choosing just one chrysanthemum was always exquisite agony.
My personal favorites are spoon mums and spider mums, whose explosive yet delicate flowers remind me of quiet fireworks. But face to face with a different chrysanthemum, I often forget my loyalty.
Demonstration garden: Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursday mornings, from 10:30 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
Workshop: Join Napa County Master Gardeners for a workshop on “Indoor Gardening” on Saturday, November 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Transform a room into a vibrant living space with houseplants. Learn how to use color, texture and pattern for design and how to care for houseplants. The workshop will be held at the Senior Multi-Use Center, 2185 Elliott Drive, American Canyon. Online registration (credit card only) Mail in registration (cash or check).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.