CURVED STEMS

 

Hello all and to those celebrating Lunar New Year, may it be a happy, healthy and prosperous one. 

The photograph of the arrangement, bove, was taken a month ago, when the agapanthus was mainly in bud. I noticed a number of distortions on some of the white flower buds and wanted to use them. I recently bought the glass tubing that's twisted, much like the Gordian Knot, and wanted to use it with the curved agapanthus. After trying a number of other vases to go with it, I settled on this one because the diameter was just right. With the transparency of the glass vase, I had to take care that the part of the stems that were inside the vase were a part of the arrangement. I kept them as straight as I could manage and to the left side of the vase, leaving space on the right side.

And whilst we're on the topic of curves, in the arrangement, below, I used aliams called 'Drumstick', which I manipulated, whilst they were growing, into these curves. I grow almost all my bulbs in pots because I don't have room in the garden for them and I lift them out when they die down and repot them at the right time for the following season. This way I have great success with them. However, the bulbs for these alium are so  small that I missed them and planted other things in the pot they were in. The dear things came up anyway and did very well. 

They are very worth while growing because they last very well as a cut flower. They even dry welI. I made this arrangement 2 weeks ago and, after getting tired of it, I dismantled it and used the same flowers in the next arrangement. An example of the lesson in Book 3- 'Composition of Straight and Curved Lines'.

And just on more with curves. This is a small arrangement for the powder room. I used more of the allium together with squiggly grass in a container that was given to me by my daughter having bought it in The States.

With the current heat and humidity it feels like we're living in the tropics. Both materials I used in the next arrangement are tropical plants. The strelitzia nicolai leaf that has just unfurled has the two tones of green and, of course, the gloriosa lilies are distinctly tropical. My original plan was to have the leaf on the table without a container because it can last for a little while without water. For the lilies I used water vials hidden in the curled up leaf.

Then I thought I'd see what it looked like in a container. I used this large, heavy one made of reconstituted stone, for balance, both visual and actual.

This last one I call 'Lazy Ikebana'. I found the branch structure in the storeroom. It's been there since 2015, when I had originally used it in a demonstration. It needed a touch up of black spray paint but the rest was fine. The flowers are from my next door neighbour's creeper that I have to keep cutting back. It's called Port St John Creeper and it has lovely, long stems, just right for my needs.

Bye for now,

Emily