Hello all,

You may have noticed that this post is one week early. There's a good reason for that. I will be so busy next week that I will not have time for the blog. Some of you will already know that The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) will be on from Wednesday 27th March until Sunday 31st March.  As with previous years, I will be taking part in the Baptcare Shop Window Competition. We have three days for setting up before the opening. On Sunday, the last day, at 11.30 there will be Ikebana demonstrations on the main stage by members of Ikebana International. I will be the Sogetsu demonstrator.

Ikebana will be very well represented in the Great Hall this year because the Iemoto (Head of School) of the Ichio School, Naohiro Kasuya, will be here to produce a very large display, with the assistance of II members.

Last week the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter celebrated its 60th Anniversary. The meeting was well attended and the delicious fruit cake made by Marj Campkin-Smith was enjoyed by all, especially me!

I was particularly happy and grateful at that meeting because I was the first winner of the raffle making me the owner of the beautiful vase, above. It was a very generous donation by Joshua Longmore from Made In Japan.

Like a child with a new toy, I couldn't wait to come home and 'play' with it. The curved agapanthus stems suited the shape of the container and the yellowing seed head picked up the colour of the rim of the container. The unobstructed, clear view of the water was particularly pleasing to me.

For the meeting, my arrangement, above, began with the crucifix orchids, which were the only undamaged flowers in my garden. Their very thin stems meant that I could use them in this vase, which has a very small opening. I then looked around for accompanying material, settling on the spent sunflowers and taro leaves. For more photographs of the members' arrangements, click on II Melbourne.

At our last class I had set the theme 'Composition Expressing a Movement'.

Lucy's arrangement viewed from above - 'Swirling'. She used weeping willow

Nicole went with 'Leaning'. She used agapanthus and Belladonna lilies
Unfortunately, the photo doesn't show how far the agapanthus are leaning forward

Vicky depicted 'Wrestling'. She used red geraniums to represent blood on the
very aggressive looking agave

I, also, used agave but in a very different way with one garlic flower.
My movement is 'Poking' 

Shaneen's arrangement addresses the theme "Curved and
Straight Lines.She used umbrella grass stems, flax and sedum

As I was looking through the agapanthus bed for materials, I came across two interestingly bent stems. Now, I often create the curves myself but in this case nature gets all the credit. As I held them and looked at them, the arrangement came to life. So, when putting them in this self-made container, I took some pains to make sure that the stems rose from the middle of the vase and did not lean against the edge. I was happy with the result. Later, as I walked passed it a few times, it seemed a tad too simple. I looked around for something suitable to add and found this old wisteria vine that was sprayed black. Personally, I still prefer the first version. You can decide which you like better.

Bye for now and, maybe, I'll see you at the Show,
Emily

Hello all,
Last week I had the pleasure of introducing ikebana to the U3A Mornington Group as part of their "That was Then" 2019 history program.

I had been contacted by Gus van der Heyde late last year and was asked to do this presentation. Of course I agreed and, when the time came, I 'dragged' the ever accommodating Lucy along as my assistant.

We had a very pleasant morning demonstrating to a group that was appreciative, interested and engaged. It's quite different demonstrating to a group that knows nothing about ikebana or floral art. I needed to select appropriate arrangements that are varied in style, size, materials and containers. The difficulty that I faced was the scarcity of materials that had not been destroyed by the extremely hot weather we had experienced. It just meant that I had to be more creative with the materials I had.

Below are photographs of the eight arrangements I did that morning. I had to dismantle the arrangements to bring them home and then re-arrange them in order to photograph them. My apologies to the attendees if there are slight differences from the original. It is almost impossible to recreate an arrangement exactly.

I used squiggly grass and small roses. The theme is 'Paying
Attention to the shape of the Container'

A single philodendron leaf in a tall glass
container

Contorted Hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta', hydrangeas and
Kniphofia uvaria

Japanese Maple and Altissimo roses In a ceramic 'basket'

The stripped umbrella is the unconventional material in this
arrangement. Crab apples, iceberg roses and amaranthus

Variegated aspidistra and an osage orange
(Maclura pomifera)

Agapanthus seed heads in stainless steel containers

Part of a philodendron leaf and a belladonna
flower

Bye for now,
Emily