28th September, 2020

 

Using only one kind of material. Flowers of an aloe-like succulent

Hello all,

The orange colour in the above and below arrangements is pure coincidence. I just use what's available. But I do enjoy this warm, joyous and uplifting colour.

Also, the agave in the next three arrangements was due to a necessary cut back of the leaves growing into the lawn and, as we're expecting our lawnmower man tomorrow (hooray), I had to make it easy for him to mow close to the edgings.

And, about our extremely overgrown grass (we really can't call it a lawn), I didn't mind it all that much because it looked like a meadow. There are white daisies and all sorts of grasses going into seed, which we don't see normally. So I enjoyed looking at it and wading through it until a scary thought entered my head and I stopped enjoying it. Snakes! I have an overwhelming fear of snakes and, even though we've never had a sighting of one in our area, once I thought about it, I couldn't unthink it. I'm very happy David is coming tomorrow to mow.

Agave and strelitzia reginae

Agave and clivias

Agave and squiggly grass

My favourite stage of viburnum opulus (snow ball tree) is right now, when the balls are small and lime green and, of course, I had to use them. They will, later, grow larger and change to white and I will use them again. This large shrub is gorgeous in spring when it flowers, as well as in autumn when the leaves put on a display of oranges and reds. A must have! It's also easy to propagate by layering.

The weight of the flowers causes the finer branches to arc downwards, creating interesting curves, ideal for ikebana. When I walked in to the ikebana room to arrange these two pieces, I intended to use a bright blue container to contrast with the lime green. Then I saw this green glass container and changed my mind. A few years back, while visiting a glassblower's studio in the Peninsular, I watched as the vase was hand blown for me to my specifications. I'm particularly fond of it.

Viburnum opulus and arum lilies. The top stem has a lovely forward
curve, which is lost in the photo

Another, much loved shrub is the stachyurus praecox, which I used when the stems were densely filled with pendant, primrose yellow flowers. Now, most of the flowers have dropped but, interestingly, they dropped from the top, leaving a few flowers on the bottom. I never noticed this before and I find it quite charming. 

Stachyurus praecox and rhododendron

You may remember this, next, arrangement, which I made and posted at the end of August. I had used a cordyline for the main structure and daffodils for the floral focus. The cordyline lasted very well but not so the daffodils, so I replaced them with a strelitzia reginae. Well, four weeks later and the arrangement is still going strong. I get many of these, double headed strelitzias. In this situation it has worked out well but there are times I have to 'decapitate' one of them to suit the arrangement.

I leave you with this arrangement, in which I wanted to use the haemanthus coccineus lily leaf. These large leaves are thick and fleshy with a gentle curve and glossy green colour, with which the red crucifix orchid contrasted beautifully.

Bye for now,

Emily

21st September, 2020

Clivias and arum lilies in a self made ceramic container

Hello all

Spring has exploded in my garden, so much so, that I can't keep up with all the material available for ikebana. And, with classes suspended, I can't even share it with my students. Below is a photo of my clivia bed.

The arum lilies are doing particularly well. They have spread naturally throughout the front rockery but, depending on where they are growing, there are distinct differences between the clumps. The ones higher up on the rockery are somewhat smaller than the ones further down. I'm assuming it's because the lower ones receive more water as it flows downwards. Then, there is one clump that has quite charming distortions. Why this is so is a mystery to me but I love the distortions. In the arrangement, below, I used a curved branch of Viburnum plicatum tomentosum. This is a deciduous shrub with branches that grow horizontally. The large, white flowers grow on top of the branches giving the impression that they are covered with snow. Later, they produce little red berries but they are not very significant.

I have a great abundance of Green Goddess lilies as well as arum lilies. And, although I don't like to repeat, I confess I have made this type of arrangement before. But I really like it, so I make one every year, with slight variations. In this case, I chose the tightly closed arum lilies with fully opened Green Goddess lilies, creating a frilly effect as they cascade down.

With all the beautiful spring flowers, I wanted to make very simple arrangements to highlight the beauty of the individual flower.

The appearance of this flower in my garden came as a total surprise. I was, obviously given the bulbs by some kind soul but I completely forgot about it. I almost missed it because it grows very low with a short stem, so was hidden by the leaves. My student, Shaneen, identified it as Arum italicum - Pictum. I created this very simple structure with a bare elm branch to frame the flower.

Unfortunately, the next day the flower had drooped and folded over itself. It gives new meaning to the word ephemeral.

So, I replaced it with this 'distorted' arum lily. Same family but much more resilient.

Continuing with simple arrangements. 

Iris Japonica and squiggly grass

Arum lily and squiggly grass

Rhododendron

One of the last flowers from my Kamo Hon ami
camellia

Exquisite tulip!

Tulip with lichen covered golden elm branch

I'd like to leave you with this image of these ducks that frequent our back yard. The grass has not been cut for months because of the lockdown, which forbids our lawnmower man from coming. And, as we don't own a lawn mower, Sam can't cut it. As a consequence, the grass is so tall that I din't see the ducks and nearly walked into them. Fortunately, they sensed me and waddled off.

Bye for now,

Emily

14th September. 2020

Monstera deliciosa flower buds and agave 

Hello all,
First of all an explanation and an apology. I have just become aware that, on some devices, my blog looks messy. I prepare each blog on my PC, a quite old, hand-me down model from some member of my family. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to line up the photographs and to create a more pleasing presentation. However, google is very difficult to negotiate and I, often, have to redo work that I have, already, done. I never publish a post without previewing it first. So, imagine my chagrin when I checked out last week's post on my phone, to find great big gaps between the text and photos, as well as misaligned captions. AARGH!!!

I am sorry and I will try to keep a more simple format in the hope that I will eliminate the mishaps. As you've probably guessed, I'm not very technically minded, I just fumble my way through all of this.

And now to ikebana.

I absolutely love tulips and all the bulbs I planted have now flowered. But they are uncontrollable. The arrangement, below, started out as a Variation number 4, slanting style moribana, with the hikae (tulips) at 75 degrees. A few hours later, before I had a chance to photograph it, the tulips were standing bolt upright. I must admit, I rather like this look. However, two days later and they are much taller than when I cut them and all over the place.

The next two arrangement, with the tulips in an upright position, stayed more or less the same after two days, except that they are now taller.

Some of my Green Goddess lilies, of which I have many, are huge. The arrangement, below, is over a metre in height and the length of the individual flowers is about 30cm. The Japanese flowering quince provides the line in the arrangement. And, just in case any of you are concerned that it is not in water, let me assure you that it is. In fact, there are two stems, each with its base in water and bent to create the illusion of going through the stems of the lilies.

The next arrangement is one from Book Four - A variety of Materials. It can be quite challenging, especially for the less experienced ikebanists. It is, also, the arrangement that can most look western. To avoid that, first of all its important to remember asymmetry. And secondly, to group the various materials, rather than scatter them throughout the arrangement. And thirdly, ensuring that most of the materials have small leaves or flowers, with one bold and big material as a focal point. There are, of course, other elements to be considered but following these three rules can help keep the arrangement from looking western.

Six different materials in ceramic wall container

Flowering elm branches and Aunty Magda's strelitzia

Geranium leaves and strelitzia

Over the years, those of you who have been following by blog, would have read of my disappointment with my herbaceous peonies. They flower sporadically, or not at all, despite all my efforts. Earlier this year, Vicky and I travelled to the Dandenongs to purchase tree peonies from a lovely lady, called Marie. It was Trish, our Ikebana International president, that put us in contact with her. Well, we bought two each and two for Lucy, which was quite an investment for all of us. Now, I'm delighted to share with you my very first tree peony flower called 'Taiyo'. I'm tickled pink!

Bye for now,

Emily

7th September, 2020

Spring extravaganza with eight different materials

Hello all,
To paraphrase John Paul Young's song - Spring is in the air, everywhere I look around
                                                                  Spring is in the air, every sight and every 

                                                                    sound..........

After the limited materials over winter, it feels like there is an explosion of new growth and blossoms of every kind. And, I'm loving it!

Yesterday,I was surprised and delighted by this elegant visitor, who, fortunately, is not bound by the restrictions of Covid and was walking, unperturbed, around our back yard. He wasn't worried by my presence as I approached him, very slowly, to photograph him. However, our resident kukabara swooped down and with a great deal of noisy indignation, chased him away.

I estimated the height of this heron as 60-70 cms

 Some materials can last much longer than others and agave is one that can last for months, even out of water. So, it makes it hard to just throw it away together with material that has died. Below are two examples of reusing agave from previous arrangements with different materials this time.

Agave and arum lily

Simplified arrangement. Agave and 
magnolia

My prunus elvins puts on a spectacular display of pale pink blossoms in early spring. The flowers cover the stems so tightly that they appear crowded. It's almost as though it wants to compensate for the short duration of its flowering, using up all of its energy.

Close up of blossoms.

                   

      

Prunus elvins, hyacinths and violas

Cornus alba siberica, cymbidium orchids and alstroemeria
psittacina leaves

Using only one kind of material -
Arum lilies

New Zealand flax and arum lilies

Bye for now,

Emily