These articles were originally published on the web on chrysanthemums.info however that website is defunct at February 2020. The copyright is with the original owners of chrysanthemums.info and the article is reproduced here as it is informative.
Chrysanthemum judging
This page describes some (but by no means all) of the elements involved in chrysanthemum judging. This page aims to give the reader a very high level view of some of the aspects that the chrysanthemum judge is looking for when chrysanthemums are exhibited.
The National Chrysanthemum Society (N.C.S.) has a very clear system for judging the various types of chrysanthemums. This includes tables that allocate points to each aspect of quality based on relative importance. There is also a faults and penalties table to help judges determine the relative severity of particular faults.
However the N.C.S.Executive Committee have requested that no detailed information about the points system and faults and penalties system be reproduced here.
The following topics are included on this page:
- Overview of considerations and relative importance
- Common faults
- Definitions
- Illustrations (link)
Overview of considerations and relative importance
The major considerations when judging are:
- FORM,
- SIZE,
- FRESHNESS,
- COLOUR,
- UNIFORMITY,
- STAGING
- and FOLIAGE.
For example, for disbudded blooms such as Reflexed or Incurved FORM is considered most important, whereas STAGING and FOLIAGE are considered less important.
The relative importance of each aspect is shown below:
| Disbuds | Large and Medium Exhibition | Natural Sprays | Exhibition Sprays | |
| Form | 1st | 3rd | ||
| Size | 2nd= | 1st= | ||
| Freshness | 2nd= | 1st= | ||
| Colour | 4th | 4th | ||
| Uniformity | 5th | |||
| Foliage | 6th= | 3rd | 4th | |
| Staging | 6th= | |||
| Foliage and Staging | 5th | |||
| Bloom quality | 1st(2) | 1st (1) | ||
| Spray quality | 2nd (3) | |||
| Overall effect | 2nd(4) | 3rd (4) |
Notes for Sprays
Note 1 - Bloom Quality Exhibition Sprays
This aspect of quality breaks down into the following: FRESHNESS (1st), FORM (2nd), COLOUR (3rd) SIZE (4th)
Note 2 - Bloom Quality Natural Sprays
This aspect of quality breaks down into the following: FRESHNESS (1st), COLOUR (2nd=), FORM (2nd=),
Note 3 - Spray Quality Exhibition sprays
This aspect of quality breaks down into the following: FORM (1st=), UNIFORM PLACEMENT & DEVELOPMENT (1st=)
Note 4 - Overall Effect Exhibition and Natural sprays
For Natural sprays this aspect covers PROGRESSION OF DEVELOPMENT and STAGING
For Exhibition Sprays this aspect covers STAGING and NUMBER OF BLOOMS
Common faults
The list below contains just a few examples of the common faults that the judge may encounter and an indication of the seriousness of each of the faults described. This is by no means a complete list of the faults that can be found in chrysanthemums.
| Severity level | |
| FORM: | |
| Blooms lacking in depth | Serious |
| Daisy eye | Very Serious |
| Centres underdeveloped | Less Serious |
| SIZE: | |
| Blooms well down on size | Serious to very serious |
| Blooms slightly down on size | Less Serious |
| FRESHNESS: | |
| Basal florets tired | Serious |
| Bloom or blooms badly damaged |
Serious to very serious |
| COLOUR: | |
| Colour very poor for cultivar | Serious |
| Colour faded at the base | Serious |
| FOLIAGE: | |
| Badly diseased foliage | Serious+ |
| Absence of foliage on the stem | Serious+ |
| STAGING: | |
| Packing visible and untidy | Less Serious |
| Poor bloom spacing | Less Serious |
Further guidance is also given for each chrysanthemum type, e.g. Incurved, Reflexed, Singles, Sprays, Pompons. In all there are well over 100 possible faults that a judge may encounter.
Definitions
| Aspect of quality | Definition |
| Form | Form means the approved shape of the flower as specified for it's type at it's most perfect stage of development. |
| Size | Size means a full-sized specimen in keeping with the recognised normal full sixe for the cultivar concerned. |
| Freshness | Freshness requires that florets should be unblemished and fresh to the tip. |
| Colour | Colour means that which is typical of good colour for the cultivar concerned. |
| Uniformity | Uniformity means that blooms of the same cultivar exhibited in the same vase should be uniform in terms of size, form and colour. |
| Other definitions | |
| Natural Spray | A Natural Spray is a lateral with flowers ranging from bud to fully developed and conforming to one of the accepted spray forms. |
| Exhibition Spray | An Exhibition spray is a lateral with only one flower on each pedicel emerging from the lateral. |
Illustrations
This link will take you to a separate page showing examples of chrysanthemum types: