10th April, 2023

 

Hello all,

I have often bemoaned the loss of fruit from our various trees to the local fauna. Our crabapple tree was completely denuded, of both fruit and leaves. Our heirloom apples were eaten despite my covering each cluster with a plastic bag. I'm suspecting rats for this. As for our young nectarine tree, the fruit disappeared in one night. For this I suspect bats. However, my pomegranates have been left alone, so far. I decided to cut as many as I can manage to arrange before the possums become aware of them.

In the arrangement, above, with the pomegranates, I used one of my self seeded amaranthus and the wisteria I had pruned recently.

In the large, wall arrangement, below, I used a whole bunch of the pomegranates with leucodendrons and hydrangeas.

For class I had set a double theme for the advanced students - 'Tsubo Vases' and 'Green Materials'. In this lesson we look to create interest with our selection of materials. Even though  they all have to be green, there is variety within the green colour spectrum as well as in the textures and sizes of the material. 

For my example I used  my Japanese anemones, after the white petals and yellow stamens had dropped, leaving clusters of little green balls. I added Pinellia pedatisecta leaves and green oranges in a ceramic, tsubo vase.

Nicole used cotoneaster branches, agapanthus umbels and immature privet berries in a ceramic tsubo vase.

Vicky used apple branches, hydrangeas that had turned pale green and diosma.

We were not able to identify Lucy's branches but they had an interesting texture. She also used fern fronds and aeoniums in her newly acquired, ceramic tsubo vase.

Wendy's curriculum theme was 'With Leaves Only' She used a strelitzia nicolai leaf, canna lily leaves to the back, cordylines and 'Arum Italicum pictum' leaves in a ceramic vase.

Lei's curriculum lesson was 'Specific Scenes, Occasions or Spaces'. She chose to make an Easter arrangement. She created a bird cage like structure using spear grass in a porcelain container with holes all around its rim. She added ferns and rose hips as well as little Easter eggs.

Shaneen's theme was 'Floor Position Arrangement'. She used golden diosma, statice, succulent flowers and a cluster of unidentified, pink flowers in a tall, ceramic vase.

Mary's theme was 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'. She used large fern fronds from which she stripped the little leaves leaving the 'spine'. She arranged them on a kenzan in a suiban and arranged the leaves below them giving the impression that they fell. The rosebud added a little colourful accent.

Bye for now,

Emily