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:

FORMS page