CALLISTEMONS

Hello all,

For last week's class I asked the advanced students to make an arrangement in a basket using callistemons. I had noticed, before we left for our trip, that these brightly coloured, Australian native shrubs were in full bloom and thought they might still be usable for ikebana. Unfortunately, most of the many trees in our area were well past their best but we were able find enough to work with.

For my arrangement, above, I used red bottle brush (callistemon citrinus) and a cream coloured one (Callistemon 'Willow Bottlebrush') in an antique Japanese, bamboo basket.

Jenny used the same materials as I did but her red bottle brush were sitting upright compared to my hanging ones.

Vicky used a basket with lid and, along with her red callistemons, she used a mass of white roses and Limonium meyeri.

Bredenia, also, used red and cream bottle brush stems in a wide basket.

Lucy used a basket she made herself many years ago out of palm inflorescence, during a workshop that I ran for my class. It was good to see it being used again. Together with the red bottle brush, she used strelitzias reginae and dietes flowers.

Shaneen's curriculum theme was a "Table Arrangement'. She used two different coloured roses and spuria iris in an oval, ceramic suiban, keeping the arrangement low, so as not to obstruct guests' view of each other.

Lei's curriculum theme was 'Dried, Bleached or Coloured Materials'. She created a structure from a painted, corky elm branch over a ceramic container and added aspidistra leaves split in half and chrysanthemums.

Dianne did the lesson called 'Free style Ka-bu-wa-ke'. The pink flowering branch is Weigela florida. She, also, used Dutch Iris and gorgeous, purple alliums.

Mary's lesson was ' Using Both Fresh and Unconventional Materials'. She used a rubber sheet with holes punched through it and spuria iris in a white, ceramic trough.

Bye for now, 

Emily

21st November, 2022

 

Hello all,

Below is the link to the second virtual exhibition, Celebration, of Ikebana International Melbourne chapter. Please click on it to view the exhibition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt1eJQsC0wg

My student, Dianne, brought to class a whole bucket of fabulous material, amongst them these stunning peonies, which she gave to me. She lives in Trentham, which is considerably colder than Melbourne and might explain why she has better success with peonies than the rest of us. Or, perhaps she's just a better gardener. Whatever the reason I was very grateful to have the chance to work with these temperamental but gorgeous flowers. I had to include a close up.

With all the rain we had recently some plants have suffered from overwatering but others have thrived. Such a one is my Nandina domestica, which has grown so much that it was encroaching on the foot path and had to be pruned. I cut a large branch and removed three quarters of the leaves before placing it in this tall vase. I love the slanting form and was able to secure it using a horizontal fixture. I, then, looked around for flowers and tried several different ones but none satisfied me, until I noticed this strelitzia with its head looking up. I worked on the stem to create the same curve as the nandina stem.

Vicky recently gave me this quirky container, which I love using.

With rhododendron

With Siberian iris

Last week, as I was preparing for class, my brother-in-law, Peter, walked in and handed me two large stems of kiwi vine in flower. He said they were gift from my sister (Vicky). So I put the branch I was working on into a bucket and proceeded to arrange the kiwi vine. The last of my hippeastrums came in very handy as did the inflorescence of the nandina domestica.

Close up of the flowers which have a 
delicate fragrance

As I was clearing up my studio upon our return from our trip, I was going to throw away these golden ash branches, which I had used previously. But I couldn't. So I played with them and this is what emerged. It was, also, a good way to use my last cymbidium orchid.

Bye for now,

Emily

14th November, 2022

 

Hello all,

Well, we're home with all that that entails. It was by far the most relaxing holiday we ever had. There are many interesting tours available in Port Douglas but we avoided all of them, having done them before.and chose, instead, to relax at the villa, swim in our private pool and EAT a lot. We will pay the price for that vice later.

In my previous post I lamented the fact that I'm surrounded by some of the best tropical materials but could not use them for ikebana. As luck would have it, on one of our walks around the grounds, we came across prunnings from several palm trees....

The temptation was just too great and I gave into it. Of course, I had my accomplice, my longsuffering, ikebana husband, to help carry some of the cuttings to our villa. Without any tools, except for a kitchen knife, it was challenging to make arrangements but I did my best. Luckily, there was a large white bowl in the kitchen and an empty vase on the bench, both of which came in very handy.

The materials are palm spathes and inflorescence, on the above arrangement the fruit are quite mature, whereas in the photo below, the inflorescence is in what looks like buds. They are both very heavy and tough to penetrate. I tried using one of the needles from the sewing kit provided, but the stem was too woody and the needle broke.

I placed the arrangements in front of the flat screen TV, using it as a backdrop for my photos. Some green leaves would have improved the arrangements but, even as they are, making them satisfied the need I had to get my hands on some tropical material. I was suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Walking down the shopping strip, I noticed this stunning iris-like flower. I looked it up and it is called Travelling Iris (Neomarica) but is not really an iris. The flowers grow at the end of a stalk, which then bends to the ground and sets roots. Hence the name 'Traveling Iris'.

The flowers seem to be growing at
the tips of leaves.

So back to ikebana.

For our last class I had set the theme for the advanced students of 'Both Fresh and Unconventional Materials'. This is always a fun exercise and we all enjoyed it.

Jenny used a whole box of coloured pencils, wired into triangles and, then, joined them into a structure attaching it to a triangular, ceramic container. The arum lilies added height as well as the fresh materials.

Vicky used thick silver wire wound into spiral, spring like structures and placed them in a ceramic container the shape of a cube. She retained the asymmetry by making the 'springs' different size and by placing one green goddess lily in one and two in the other.

The class was the day before we were to leave for our trip, so I was quite time poor. So, for my arrangement, I decided to go into my storeroom and to pick the first unconventional material that I saw and work with that. That turned out to be this bright green, shiny roll of foil with the reverse side in dull yellow.

Then a quick look around for the fresh materials. The loquats picked up the yellow of the foil very well, as did the spuria iris. The mass of white ornithogalums added depth to the back as well as contrast for the other materials. The black vase is glass and has an oval shape.

Shaneen took advantage of the small window of opportunity, whilst iris are available, to do the iris lesson in Book 5. She employed the traditional method of arranging flag iris, with her stunningly beautiful, dark purple blooms and many leaves, as well as a little sprig of Japanese maple.

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'To be Viewed from all Sides'. The pink flowering branch is called 'buckeye' or 'horse chestnut'. The genus is Aesculus.  She also used Portugal laurel and cottage gladioli in a ceramic, oval shaped vase.

Lei's lesson was 'Focusing on Water'. She used a large suiban and placed a strelitzia reginae flower and leaf diagonally over the top, creating shadows and reflections over the water. The smaller leaves are pinellia tripartita.

Dianne made a 'Horizontal Arrangement'. She used contorted hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta'), white flag iris, native mint bush and boronia.

Dianne also brought along her adorable, brand new puppy, Loulou and Vicky fell instantly in love!

Bye for now,

Emily

Tropical Get Away

 

Illawarra flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius)

Hello all,

Well, we finally made it. We were supposed to go on our holiday at the end of August but, as some of you might remember, Covid reared its ugly head and our trip was postponed.

So, here we are in Port Douglas staying in a luxurious, Balinese style  villa, set in a large compound with immaculately maintained, lush, tropical gardens. It's torture for a poor ikebanist like me to see all this wonderful material but to be forbidden from touching. And by 'touching' I mean cutting. At the villa we have a garden at the front and a bigger one at the back. At the end of the garden is a wall of vegetation at least 15 metres high. See photo below:

And this is me working on the blog. I lugged my heavy, ancient laptop with me just for this task.

It is so quiet that the only sounds we hear are the rustling of leaves, some birds, the babbling of the water features and the resident gecko, who clicks away every so often. And the biggest surprise of all, no insects!

All of the above is exclusively ours, with complete privacy. Other than going out for meals, we have no desire to leave this place. Having said that, with a fully appointed kitchen, including a coffee machine, we are able to prepare some simple meals ourselves.

We have a number of different Buddhas around the property looking after us. Here's one of them.

The main reason we, southerners, gravitate north is the weather but for those of us interested in plants, it's an absolute paradise. Below is one of two of these palm like plants in our back yard. Its common name is Traveller's palm, even though it is not really a palm. Its genus is Ravenala, Species madagascariensis. It's a relative of the strelitzias.

Oh how I'd love to get my hands on these crab claw heliconias (Heliconia bihai)

On Saturday we went for lunch at Ospreys Restaurant, Thala Beach Nature Reserve. The last time we were here we could not get a reservation, so this time we booked ahead and it was worth the effort. The restaurant is set high, with views of the tree tops and beyond that, Thala beach.

The view from our table.

                                 

And this lazy visitor (some kind of Monitor) stayed sleeping on the tree trunk for the duration of our meal.

Yesterday we took a drive to Palm Cove, mainly to see the majestic Paperbark Melaleucas, some of which are reported to be over 400 years old. They are protected, so much so, that buildings are built around them. You could be sitting in a restaurant with a giant tree trunk next to you. The rows of palm trees are, also, quite lovely in this village.

Sam in front of Paperbark Melaleucas. If you look closely at the background, you'll
see trees growing through the roofs of buildings.

We drove past this shrub, below, several times and were struck by its full, vibrant flowers. Luckily Sam was driving as it would have been a dangerous distraction for me. We stopped and took photos, which, unfortunately don't do justice to the shrub or the colour of the flowers. In fact, the star shaped flowers are small, yellow ones surrounded by large apricot/pink brachts. It's name is Mussaenda erythrophylla.

Close up

Bye for now,

Emily