22ND JUNE, 2026

 

Hello all,  

For last week's class I had set two themes - a 'Vertical Arrangement' and a 'Horizontal Arrangement'- for the advanced students. I did so because they are quite easy and I was certain the students would be able to cope.

Mine is the horizontal arrangement, above. Vicky  had trimmed her kiwi vine and gave me a large number of gorgeous vines, part of which I used here. I, also, had gypsophila, a stem of phalaenopsis orchid and alstroemeria psittacina leaves. The ceramic container is by Paul Davis.

My arrangement, below, came about when I was removing some dead leaves from my strelitzia nicolai. Normally, these leaves are quite wide but this one had an interesting, narrow shape, ideal for my vertical arrangement. I was able to find some long stems on my camellia to add to it for the floral focus.

Apart from the camellias, there are not many flowers in the garden this time of year. That's why it's such a joy when the Japanese flowering apricot (prunus mume) comes into bloom. I couldn't resist using it for a second, vertical arrangement.

Lucy's vertical arrangement comprised three sansevierias and one amaranthus flowerhead draping downwards.

For her horizontal one she used a triangular, ceramic container with openings on both sides, through which she placed two gymea leaves and a cycad frond.

Vicky's kiwi vine features in her vertical arrangement, together with a Green Goddess lily and a NZ flax leaf in a footed, ceramic container.

For her horizontal one she used equisetum stems, knotted together at the end and added a single stem of Oriental lily in bud.

Nicole used three arum lilies, in different stages of opening and umbrella grass (cyperus ulternifolius), with the tops trimmed back.

For her horizontal one she used stems of cotoneaster epiculatus and nandina domestica nana in a squat, tsubo vase.

Lei, for her vertical arrangement, trimmed three palm fronds and placed them in a flat trough, at different heights, then added snapdragons behind them.

And for her horizontal one, she managed to balance a tortuous willow stem over the tsubo vase and added a single protea to complete the arrangement.

Dianne's class theme was 'Focusing on the Uses of Water'. She made two arrangements in large suibans. The first was pond-like using a log and winter iris (Iris unguicularis). The materials were placed to the side, leaving the water uncluttered.

In her second arrangement Dianne placed a Mahonia stem diagonally across the container, thus reflecting on the surface of the water. She added sprigs of mahonia and winter iris on the kenzan to complete the arrangement.

In this week's camellia arrangement I used the red camellia, whose name I've not been able to find and some clivia berries in a quirky, ceramic container. 

Bye for now,

Emily