Hello all,

And welcome to my agapanthus issue. Yes, I know they are as common as dirt around here but that doesn't make them any less beautiful or versatile. The name 'agapanthus comes from the Greek and it means 'Love flower'. And I love them!

Some weeks ago I had to remove, literally, hundreds of spent flowers. They were too many for the two large bins we have for garden waste, so the job had to be done over two collection cycles. In the process I kept finding interesting stems that I could not discard and was compelled to keep and then  arrange. It turned into an agapanthus workshop for one. Which, I have to admit, I enjoyed. The photographs, below, are of arrangements using agapanthus in the stages after the blue or white flowers had died.

Dried and sprayed agapanthus with hawthorn berries and roses

With nandina domestica nana

In an asymmetrical Lacquer container

In a glass container

With New Zealand Flax

And now for class.
For last lesson I had set the theme 'Improving Your Technique - In a suibanan Without Kenzan' from Book 5. This is an extension of the Lesson in Book 4 and it includes using flowers and leaves as well as branches and employing a number of fixing methods. I'd like to point out that in all of the arrangements, below, the structure that was created stands without resting against the sides of the suiban, even though it may look like it does in the photos.

Vicky's very tall arrangement using dried strelitzia
leaves, Japanese flowering quince and a very tall
gladiolus, which was a gift to me from Dianne
Longley

Lucy's was also a very tall arrangement. She
used strelitzia leaves and Oriental lilies

Nicole used agapanthus, amaranthus and nandina domestica nana

I used Siberian dogwood branches and chrysanthemums In this more
traditional style arrangement

Here I used a strleitzia flower and leaf with agapanthus

Bye for now,
Emily

Hello all,
My arrangement, above, addresses the theme in Book 4 -'Specific Scenes, Occasions or Spaces. In my case, my arrangement was to celebrate Easter. I found this container with holes all around it at an opp shop and instantly thought of filling the holes with Easter eggs. I also used taro leaves and squiggly grass.

Aurelia's arrangement, above, was to celebrate her brother's birthday. She used a prostrate banksia and Asiatic lilies. Unfortunately, the photograph doesn't show the beautiful curves of the banksia stems, sweeping from the back to the front.

'Green Plant Materials' is the theme for the two arrangements, below.

I used agapanthus and New Zealand flax. 

Nicole also used agapanthus as well as Setaria Palmifolia and
Green berries, with which I am unfamiliar 

The two arrangements, below, fit the theme in Book 4- 'Vegetables and/or Fruit in an Arrangement'

Judith used a pomegranate, pear, quince and a tulip in this
unusual platter with holes in it.

I used bananas, a plum, a cherry tomato and a button
mushroom

'Seasonal Materials' - Autumn

I used my much prized Haemanthus lilies,nandina domestica
nana, hawthorn berries,amaranthus and a piece of driftwood
that was given to me by my young friend Rita

Nicole used oak branches and nerines ina ceramic vase

I leave you with this arrangement, which I made with the stems of summer flowering calla lilies. I was removing the seed heads before they fell to the ground and self seeded, when I noticed the suppleness of the stems. I took off the gardening gloves and went into my ikebana room to arrange them. The haemanthus lily completed the work.

Bye for now,

Emily