PINWHEELS AND MORE

 

Hello all,

 Nature did all the work in creating the shape of the mahonia in the arrangement, above. All I had to do was trim it right back, removing leaves and leaving only the ones that create the pinwheel effect. The tall, thin, stainless steel vase was perfect to showcase the shape and the hydrangeas add the floral accent.

Inspired by the shape of the mahonia, I reused a piece of dry Japanese maple that came from a large, standard tree, which has died. This time I used it in a wall arrangement and added hydrangeas and cotoneaster berry branches.

Autumn in Melbourne is truly glorious. Below are two views of my persimmon (diospyros kaki 'Fuyu').

This is just a small example of northern hemisphere trees changing colour. My back garden is flanked by a mature golden elm on one side and four, mature English elms on the other. They are all in their autumnal colours and the effect is extraordinary.

Can't get enough of autumnal arrangements. Admittedly the foliage does not last very long in this state, requiring frequent replacements. 

Possums, or maybe rats, have defoliated my entire smoke bush (cotinus 'grace'). A few leaves have survived at the very tips of the bush. If you look closely at the branch in my arrangement, below, you'll see the partially eaten leaves at the top.

My sister-in-law, Toula had given me lots of chrysanthemum seedling a couple of years ago, which I planted and which are going gang busters. They have extremely long but thin stems, which are not able to hold up the heavy clusters of flowers. I staked them in the early stages of growth but, then, forgot about them so they created long curved stems with the heavy flowers resting at the top of the pots. I was determined to find a way to use them in ikebana and, below is the best I could do. I hasten to add that the stems were much longer and had to be trimmed back.

And here's a simplified arrangement using a pomegranate in the same container.

The fruit in the next arrangement is an astringent persimmon. The one and only fruit produced by this tree this season.

Mary's class theme was 'In a suiban without a kenzan'. She used viburnum opulus branches, one strelitzia leaf and Dutch iris in a ceramic suiban.

Before I sign off, I'd like to let you know that due to unforeseen circumstances, Sam and I have decided to bring forward our plans to downsize. This decision is a particularly difficult one for me as we have loved living in this house that we built and the garden that I have developed for 32 years. I fear my ikebana will suffer greatly without the resource that is my garden.

So, enough with the sop story. In order to prepare the house for sale, we need to do some decluttering, in particular of our storerooms. To that end, I have notified the ikebana community that I will be selling some of my ikebana 'stuff'. This will include a huge number of dried materials, unconventional materials, ikebana containers and some other odds and ends. In the interest of full disclosure, I will not be selling my best containers, as I will continue to teach and run this blog but there will be quite a few to choose from.

I will also be selling some of my better clothes that, sadly, no longer fit me. They will all be sized 12.

This event will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm. If anyone wishes to attend but does not have my address, you can email me and I will give it to you.

Bye for now,

Emily