This article was originally published in the November 2024 print edition.
The Smith College Botanic Garden’s two greenhouses are filled with blooming Chrysanthemums for the final time, with this November marking the last Fall Mum Show. The 2024 Mum Show began on Nov. 2 and will run through Nov. 17.
This year’s show was designed by Conservatory Assistant Allie Wornell ’25, who was responsible for the placements of all of the mums and the set up of the greenhouses. Wornell spent a total of 40 hours in the two weeks leading up to the show creating the spectacle that will draw between five to seven thousand visitors.
“It’s a spectacular show,” said John Berryhill, director of the Botanic Garden of Smith College. “With flowers as colorful as mums, they do a little bit of the work for you, but I think even the pickiest eye would see the care that’s gone into the composition of them.”
This year’s show spans two greenhouses, each filled with a wide variety of mums. The second greenhouse of the exhibit features hybridized mums created by students in Gaby Immerman’s class: Plants in the Landscape.
There are a multitude of reasons why the Smith tradition is ending, including minimizing pesticide usage, prioritizing educational opportunities and the lack of space, resources and staff required to put on the show.
Growing such a large quantity of the same kind of plant in tight quarters creates a breeding ground for fungal diseases and pests, so pesticides are necessary to protect the mums throughout the year. Over the past 10 years, the Botanic Garden has decreased its pesticide usage by 90%, yet of the remaining 10%, the Mum Show makes up 90% of that usage.
“A really important priority for us and our community [is] to be as close to an organic operation as we realistically can be. This is going to get us there,” said Berryhill.
Compared to the Spring Bulb Show, the Mum Show takes three times the effort and time to put on, but ultimately draws three times less visitors. Chrysanthemums are perennial flowers, meaning they have to be maintained year round. The work to get the blooms ready for the show begins in the spring, so that they can grow all summer. Berryhill said, “we don’t have the time, we don’t have the space, we don’t have the resources.”
“I mainly feel bitter [about the closing of the Mum Show],” Wornell said. “I understand the pesticide usage, but it’s been a Smith tradition for 120 years. To me that’s super meaningful and I had always hoped that I would be able to come back and visit and see the Mum Show.”
The Botanic Garden is trying to shift away from purely aesthetic shows towards more educational exhibits. Currently, the Botanic Garden has two shows each year: the Mum Show in the fall and the Bulb Show in the spring. Moving forward, the garden plans to have three to four shows annually, though not to the same scale. Mums will still be on display each fall, but with much fewer plants confined to a smaller space.
“Things should change on campus,” said Wornell. “But what are the traditions that we should keep and which ones should we let go of and which ones should evolve? I think if Lyman ever expands its physical space and staff, it would be amazing if they could bring some of [the Mum show] back.”
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