31st August, 2020

 

Hello all,

Since I focussed on naturalistic arrangements last week, it seems natural to, now, focus on modern. Camellias are mostly used naturalistically, however, by stripping subordinate stems and leaves and placing them in this vertical, copse-like fashion, they create a modern look. The stainless steel container adds to the desired effect.

In the arrangement, blow, I used curved arum lilies and their leaves, which I folded and pinned to create an interesting shape but, also, to take away their naturalistic appearance. The container, again, was chosen deliberately to add to the modern look. It also fits the theme 'Paying attention to the shape of the container'.

As you all know by now, I manipulate quite a few of the plants in my garden to create interesting shapes. Sometimes, however, I go too far and end up breaking them. Case in point, the cordyline in the arrangement, below. I bent it too far and it broke. On its own it can be quite dull, so I removed the leaves from the right side of the stem and curled the remaining leaves on the left. The daffodils were, again from our florist who had put them out on a table but, this time, they were asking for donations for 'Daffodil Day'. Judging by the amount of money in the jar, many people were happy to donate.And we ended up with pretty flowers. In my case, I don't grow daffodils in my garden because I always thought them too difficult to use. Now that I'm a convert, I will plant some next year.

The simplicity of this next arrangement, belies the difficulty in keeping the strong gymea lily leaf (Dorianthes palmeri) in the desired position. The mass is made with flowers from a small tree growing on the road, the name of which I've not been able to find out. I've included a photograph showing the three stages of the flowers in the hope that someone might recognise it and let me know. I'd be most grateful.

The three different mechanics used to 
keep the leaf in place

                                                       

My crucifix orchids have grown and spread over a number of pots. It's such a big mass that I can't see the original pots. They seem to be drawing the nutrition they need from the masses of aerial roots. As I was foliar feeding them, I noticed the curve of this stem with one of the few flowers on it. The aspidistra leaf was sitting in the bucket  slowly changing colour. The container is just a piece of glass with two holes in it. It was the base of a television set we bought years ago. I place a shallow plastic dish underneath for water and a kenzan.

                                                                                     

The thick bent wire in the arrangement, below, is one of two pieces I keep in the garage and I use when I  want to spray colour some material. I push them into the lawn and place my branches or leaves on top and, then, proceed to spray. This particular piece had an interesting bend, to which I added more bends, I was looking for an appropriate foil for my rather long stemmed hyacinths and this wire came to mind. The only down side is that it is quite heavy requiring care in the choice of container.

I leave you with this wall arrangement using curculigo leaves and daffodils.

Bye for now,

Emily

NATURALISTIC IKEBANA

Stachyurus praexis and Green Goddess lilies

Hello all,

My materials this week are best suited to naturalistic arrangements, hence the title of this post.

The wall arrangement, below, had daffodils in its first incarnation. When the daffodils died I replaced them with these white hellebores. Hellebores are generally difficult to use in arrangements because of their shy, downcast attitude. However, in a wall arrangement to be viewed from below, they are ideal. Except that I forgot that the young flowers droop very quickly. So, then, I had to replace them with a new cultivar, called 'Cinnamon Snow', which are still upright three days later.

I've been admiring the various wattle trees in the surrounding streets and, with another bunch of free daffodils from our florist, I gave in to temptation and went to cut some. The variety that's growing by the side of the road, thus easy to cut, is a particularly thorny one. I believe it's called 'Acacia paradoxa'. I had to go home and return with heavy duty leather gloves to cut and arrange the stems.

Acacia Paradoxa and daffodils.
'Colours in a similar tonal range'

Later, I was more careful in my choice of wattle. I picked one that was less savage. Unfortunately, I don't know its name. The black container with its yellow interior seemed an obvious choice. As I wanted to feature  the opening of the container, I avoided filling it with flowers flowers and, instead, used this aspidistra leaf with its gorgeous colours.

Below is a photograph of my Magnolia Soulangeana. I can enjoy this view from my kitchen, family room and ikebana room. Just in front and to the right of the magnolia is a mature Japanese Maple that's just starting to bring out leaf buds. I love this time of anticipation.

So, of course, I had to make some arrangements featuring magnolia.

Magnolia soulangeana, stachyurus praexis, hellebores and 
hyacinths

With alstroemeria psittacina leaves

With arum lilies

With spirea cantoniensis

My Japanese flowering quince is finally living up to its name and, actually, flowering! Year after year I get frustrated seeing it flowering in other people's gardens but not in mine.

Before I finish, I'd like to thank those of you who wrote to me with suggestions of possible names for my red camelia. I looked up the three different suggestions, which were 'The Czar', 'Gunsmoke' and 'Blood of China'. However, it's difficult to judge colour from photographs. The closest seems to be 'The Czar'. Whatever its name, it's a winner!

Bye for now,

Emily

 

Arum lilies and stachyurus praecox in a self made ceramic container

With the luxury of time, due to the lockdown and an overabundance of umbrella grass.I've been able to experiment with ideas I've had going round in my head for some time. It's one of my favourite materials because it lends itself to geometric shapes, which I'm drawn to. Anyway, I had this idea of a 'stalactite - stalagmite' type of arrangement and was keeping it for an exhibition. But, with no exhibitions in the foreseeable future, I will, instead, share it with you, my readers. Also, having struggled with this technique already, I hope I will do a better job of it when I use it in an exhibition.

My first attempt was very pleasing to me but it frustrated me in the extreme when I tried to photograph it. Below are two different views. I followed the shape of the triangular suiban using two of the three walls. However, in the two-dimensional medium of photography, the space between the two walls is lost, as the lines of one blend into the lines of the other.

So, rethink! I moved the structure I created into a curved container instead. I added the cymbidium orchid behind it. The white background is ideal to showcase the lines clearly.

I, then, went on to my second idea of a type of weave. I took care not to make the weave too even to avoid what Mr Kawana calls 'crafty'.  As for my kamo honnami camellia, I can't praise it enough. It has been producing its stunning blooms since mid April and there are still plenty of buds yet to open.

My contorted hazel (corylus avellana 'Contortica') is at it absolute best. This shrub is very slow growing so I use it sparingly. 

Wall arrangement - Contorted hazel and daffodils

I acquired the daffodils that I have used in this week's arrangements in an unusual way. Our local florist, which is closed, like all other non-essential businesses, had placed outside their door a trestle table and on it was a hand sanitizer and a bucket full of bunches of daffodils. There was also a sign inviting people to help themselves to a bunch. What a lovely gesture during these trying times!

New Zealand flax and daffodil 

Sometimes, nature has done her job so well that all that's required of us is to provide a vase in which to display her work.

My second favourite camellia, name unknown

Bye for now,

Emily

Hello all,

Wondering around the monstera deliciosa patch, I noticed a number of elements of this versatile plant which I could use in ikebana. It was an opportunity to indulge in a mini workshop.

 In the above arrangement, I used two fresh leaves just starting to unfurl. They sat neatly into the corner of the container without the need for kenzan. The pink anthurium is one I grew in my dining room and am particularly proud of.

24 hours later, I was greeted by this sad, droopy sight. Well, you know what they say about life giving lemons? I rescued the one leaf that was still useable and made  a new arrangement. The anthurium was too pale so I used the cymbidium orchid with its stronger colour for contrast. The vase was an easy choice as it related so well to the leaf.

The next two are self explanatory. In the first, I used half a leaf with some umbrella grass stems and two arum lilies. In the second, I used a flower bud with a couple of agave pieces.

Later on, the flowers of this plant will develop into large fruit, which taste like fruit salad, Sadly, in our garden, the local fauna, led by the possums, don't leave any for us to eat.

Last week I posted photos off my bamboo and explained my experiment to prevent it from cracking. I'm happy to say that the bamboo is still in one piece hanging on the wall. I replaced the camellias with loquat branches, clivias and cineraria. Gail, a reader of this blog, wrote to me about a problem she had when using a piece of fresh bamboo as a container. She said that it turned mouldy. Because of the small opening of my bamboo, I cannot see inside, however, as a precaution, I added a teaspoonful of bleach. I hope that does the trick

Rummaging through the storeroom, I rediscovered these old containers that have not seen the light of day for many years. Out they came for me to play with. The umbrella grass stems and hellebores were in the bucket in the ikebana room, challenging me to use them.

Bye for now, 

Emily

Using only one kind of material - Umbrella grass, Cyperus Alternifolius

Hello all,

Well, we're all learning to adjust to the new, stage 4 restrictions. Knowing that it is important to follow all the guidelines doesn't make it any easier. Missing the grandchildren is the greatest hardship of all. We are lucky, however, that today's technology allows some contact.

I'm grateful that I have a number of interests that keep me almost as busy now as I've ever been. Ikebana, dressmaking and gardening are my passions and then there are the thankless, repetitive tasks of running a household.

So I made some masks putting my sewing skills to use:

Swallows

Sashiko embroidery

Lace

And here are some ikebana arrangements, which have kept me interested and challenged and have prevented me from getting bored.

This first one is quite interesting. I have this piece of dry bamboo which I've used as a container whilst it was fresh and green. It has now dried and lost its lovely green colour, so I sprayed it, lightly with brown. I drilled two holes in the back and attached wire so that I can hang it on the wall. All of this was simple enough. The problem I was facing was something I experienced in the past when I've used dry bamboo as a container, into which I put water. The bamboo absorbed the water, expanded and split. So, I experimented - I kept the bamboo next to the sink and, several times a day, I poured water into it, swirled it around and poured it out. I did this for about a week, as the bamboo absorbed the water more slowly and became noticeably heavier. It is now full of water and hanging on the wall without any sign of splitting.

With camellias

Persimmon tree prunings and arum lilies

In a suiban without a kenzan. Cotoneaster berries and
jonquils. (Although not clear in the photo, none of the
stems are resting against the sides)

Arum lily, green goddess lily and hellibores

Loquat leaves and arum lily

We often make arrangements that, seeing them afterwards, we are not quite happy. This was a case in point.

I made this arrangement about three weeks ago but decided, afterwards, that it needed more lilies. Admittedly, at the time, I only had three. I later added more lilies and was happier.

The revised version.

And this, boys and girls, is what happens when you
forget to put water in your container!

Stay safe and bye for now,

Emily

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