Wisteria (leaves stripped) and hydrangeas

Hello all,

I've had my wisteria for more than twenty years, growing vigorously over the fence but frustrating me immensely by not producing many flowers. I've threatened it many times with removal but to no avail. Recently I discovered that I have not been pruning it at the right time. I was told at the nursery that I should prune after flowering, which I did. Then, more recently, The Gardening Australia Show, which I watch religiously, advised that wisterias should be pruned now. So I went and removed all the long thin vines and am keeping my fingers crossed that I might enjoy some more flowers in spring.

There is always inspiration for ikebana when pruning and this was no exception. I made the arrangement, above, with the very long vines in this large container. I had enough length to thread the vines through the holes a couple of times.

This delicate new growth looks
beautiful but, sadly, wilted by
the next day

I particularly like the russet colouring of the new growth, which
is picked up by the hydrangea and the vase by Paul Davis

I've spoken before about our local fauna - possums, rats, birds and bats, all of whom are very well fed thanks to our fruit trees. We've not been able to eat even one pear from our very old tree because the bats have been feasting on it whilst the fruit are still quite green. So, I was delighted when I found not one but two pears, still intact that I could use in my arrangement, below. I made a wall arrangement because I wanted to use the whole length of the branch. These sunflowers I grew for the first time. It was a wise decision to plant the smaller ones as they are much more manageable than the large. And, I was surprised that they lasted well over a week.

When the flowers and most of the leaves on the branches died, I reused the pear branches, cutting them shorter and adding the hydrangeas in the tall glass vase.

Classes started last week, and, as is often the case on the first lesson, a number of students were absent. For the advanced students I provided Japanese maple branches from my tree that needed pruning. It was a good opportunity to workshop this material, which has a number of characteristics we need to bear in mind when working with it.

Firstly, the branches are almost always slanting or horizontal and often hanging. Very rarely can I find an upright branch. Secondly, the foliage is very dense and needs to be thinned out to reveal the character of the stems. And thirdly, the soft young growth has some give but the woody stems do not bend but snap.

I used these two, self made vases with two different dahlias. The branches are in
the slanting position

,

Nicole, also used slanting branches with belladonna lilies and hawthorn berries

Vicky used oriental lilies with her sweeping branch

I leave you with this next arrangement for Valentine's day. Yes, I know it's kitsch and a cliche but, come on, cut me some slack. I'm having a bit of fun.

Happy Valentine's day!

Bye for now,
Emily