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