For the first day of winter, a wall arrangement using bare magnolia branches,
 camellias and cotoneaster berries

Hello all,

You may remember my sculpture from my March post. It was to have been included in the ASV exhibition at the 2020 MIFGS, which was cancelled. It is now part of the inaugural Association of Sculptors of Victoria (ASV) virtual sculpture exhibition. Everyone is invited to visit the site  https://sculptorsvictoria.asn.au/site. There are three categories - Courtyard, Garden and Estate and you are able to vote for your favourite piece in each category. Just as a reminder, here is the original photo.

With the continuation of what I like to call 'Extreme Gardening', I was removing an oyster plant (acanthus mollis), which had invaded my garden from next door. As I was winding the stems into the compost bin, I noticed that they curved very nicely, without kinking. So, out they came and into the ikebana room. This was a good time for a break and I took advantage of it to create the beginnings of two arrangements. I intended to complete them the next day. But, even though the stems were in water, this is what greeted me the next morning. So depressingly floppy!

Not one to give up too easily, however, I decided to go with the 'drapy' look and make my arrangements accordingly.

Acanthus stems, leaf and crucifix orchids

Acanthus stems, pomegranates and flowers from
a street tree

Acanthus stems, twisted for strength, pomegranates and
my first clivia flower

So, I was quite satisfied with my work and with having learnt how this material behaves, until the next morning when I saw this. Obviously, being submerged in water revitalised the acanthus stems and they straightened, pushing themselves out of the vase. Interesting but seriously annoying!

I have a huge patch of giant philodendron bipinnatifidum, which needs to be cut back periodically to prevent it from taking over my back yard. I removed a number of the leaves, cut away the stems and laid the leaves on the vegetable patch to act as mulch. I couldn't resist using at least one of them for an arrangement. As you can see, I kept only a small portion of the leaf for this piece, below. Because of a serious shortage of flowers, I used nandina domestica nana as a mass in the circle.

Bye for now,
Emily