1ST APRIL, 2024

 

Hello all,

When I dismantled the exhibit arrangement from the Flower and Garden Show, most of the materials were still viable and, being loathe to discard them, I made another arrangement, above.

My aeonium plant was growing quite vigorously, then for no good reason, the flowers became tiny at the end of the limbs. Because this material does not require water,I was able to join a number of the limbs to create the structure. I added the red anthuriums and two fatsia leaves.

The ginger flowers in my garden have all died a while ago but I found a couple of fresh ones in my travels and couldn't resist the large, fragrant flower heads. I wanted to emphasise the angles of the stems by placing them opposite each other. I added palm grass (setaria palmifolia) and an unconventional material in the form of plastic covered wire.

For last class I set the theme for the advanced students - 'Sketching and Arranging' This is an interesting exercise because one is required to imagine what the arrangement would look like and sketch it. Then, when attempting to arrange the materials according to the sketch, one finds that it cannot be made exactly as was imagined. We need to be flexible and allow the materials to dictate sometimes. The sketch itself is only for the student's use, so I will not include the sketch for each arrangement.

Lucy made the arrangement below, using viburnum opulus branches and rose clusters in a ceramic container.

Bredenia used a bamboo structure over a heavy, ceramic container. She added leucadendrons inside the structure and some small branches of snowberry (Symphoricarpos) shrub.

Vicky used a large nandina domestica branch in an umbrella like shape over bouganvillia and African daisies (osteospermum), in a delightful, ceramic container.

Nicole made her favourite arrangement - Using a number of materials in a basket.

Mary created interesting shapes using umbrella grass stems and added cascading amaranthus inflorescences through them. She then added hydrangeas to the side and back.

Dianne, coincidentally, had the same lesson as the advanced students. She used magnolia branches and stunning, pink roses in a ceramic trough.

Mary's other arrangement was from Book 5 of the curriculum - 'Improving Your Technique - In a Suiban Without a Kenzan'. She used Manchurian pear branches with tiny fruit but no leaves, which she placed in and out of the container. She added sansevierias and lisianthus.

I leave you with this photo that was taken by my granddaughter, Althea of a possum. We have exterior blinds on our windows and, between the blind and the glass, there is the window ledge, about 12 cm wide. On one side of the window ledge there is a mother possum with two babies, which she suckles and on the other side is a large male. The photo is of the male. The poor, nocturnal animal must have been quite startled because Althea was using the torch on my phone to see them better.

Bye for now,

Emily