AUSTRALIAN NATIVES

 

Hello all,

Those of you who have been following my blog may have noticed that I don't often use Australian native materials. It took me very long time but, I finally, worked out what it is about eucalypts that I don't like. I have been avoiding them instinctively and it recently occurred to me to question why. And here's the revelation - the leaves grow in all directions on a stem and that clashes with my sense of order.

The wall arrangement, above, is made with a eucalypt that I love -  E. Lehmannii. (I did remove most of the leaves). Its chartreuse coloured flowers resemble pom poms. It produced large gum nuts and the buds are tiny, pointy cones which drop as the fluffy flower unfurls. When in an arrangement the little cones make a soft clatter as they drop onto the wooden floor....

.....this is what I found on the floor the morning after I made the arrangement.

We had some very heavy rain yesterday, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Sam and I went to my daughter and son in law's new house to babysit the grandkids. I mentioned before that their new house is on a half acre block with a mature garden. 

In the early evening, when the rain had stopped, I ventured outside. The trees were still laden with water and dripping and the grass was soaked, wetting my feet in my sandals. The birds were starting to chatter again and there was even an odd, confused cicada carrying on very loudly. As I looked around and breathed in the clean air, I realized just how lucky I am to be in a position to enjoy this scene. To me this was like a salve for the soul.

Then, of course, it was time to look around for potential material for ikebana. As a gardener of 34 years, I recognized almost all of the plants on the property. And I was quite delighted to come across a couple I'd never seen before. 

One of them is the tall branch material in the arrangement, below. What I find charming about it is that it has long, thin stems with masses of soft, fluffy foliage at the ends. I haven't worked out what it is called but I'm almost certain it is a native. I teamed it with another native - cream coloured Corymbia ficifolia in a variation No 4 Upright style nageire.

I had featured the arrangement, below on my blog last week. I had the Australian native,  woolly bush (Adenanthos sericeus) with agapanthus. In the interest of recycling and reusing, when the agapanthus died, I replaced them with red and pale pink corymbia ficifolia.

The first of my gloriosa lilies had flowered and I placed them in this very simple arrangement together with curculigo leaves.

A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law, Betty gave me some pineapple lily plants (Eucomis). This is the second year that they are flowering. They're rather soft and floppy and have a delicate fragrance. I used a gold coloured, elm stem for line but also to help with stability.

I was inspired to make an arrangement 'With Green Materials'. This is not to be  confused with the lesson 'With Leaves Only'. Here we can use any kind of material as long as it is green and, also, not artificially coloured. Here I used the seedheads alstroemeria psittacina, aeoniums, gum nuts, pinellia pedatisecta leaves and that mystery material I found at my daughter's garden.

I chose the red, glass container for the contrast in colour with the materials.

Bye for now,

Emily

6TH JANUARY, 2025

 

From Left to right - Shaneen, Lucy, Vicky, Nicole, Deb, Jenny,
Emily and Lei

Hello all,

The photograph, above, is of those of our class who were able to attend our Christmas break up lunch. We went to Harry's Cafe at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery. We enjoyed a very pleasant lunch (after the raucous people at the table next to us left) and exchanged Kris Kringle gifts. We, also, enjoyed visiting some of the various sculptures around the property including the Love Flower, for which McClelland is now its permanent home. You can view the Gallery's website by clicking on McClelland.

Our group with the Love Flower

Me with a sculpture by Geoffrey Bartlett

We've had a couple of scorching, hot days, which have kept me busy watering and protecting my precious plants. My water tanks were empty, which meant having to resort to mains water. Something I try to avoid. However, today we had good, steady rain, penetrating the soil and topping up my tanks. Just what we, gardeners, love.

In preparation for the heat I cut some materials that I feared would be damaged. The apricot rose and the pinellia pedatisecta leaf would have cooked in the heat but look lovely in my powder room.

I, also, rescued some of the tiger lilies, Lilium lancifolium. I found some lichen covered, pear branches under one of my trestle tables, which, I suspect, were left there by one of the students. So, now I had the flowers and the branches and was looking for a container. The one I chose is a recent gift from my cousin, Steve and his wife, Nieves, who has excellent taste and has given me some great containers over the years.

Sam and I recently reached a significant, milestone anniversary and celebrated by spending a couple of days at the Jackalope Hotel in the Mornington Peninsula. It was a short stay as that was all the time Sam could afford but we did get quite spoiled in that time. As a gardener, of course, I noticed all the plants around the property and was struck by the large number of woolly bush shrubs, Adenanthos sericeus. It is a native to Western Australia and is quite beautiful with its soft, woolly like foliage and lasts a very long time as a cut specimen.  I asked for and was given permission to cut some and couldn't wait to make an arrangement when I got home. I teamed it with agapanthus Queen Mum in a self made container.

You may remember the arrangement, below, left, from a recent blog. About two weeks after I'd made the arrangement, the bull rushes started to fluff up and had to be removed before disaster struck. If allowed, when the fluffy seeds are ready they explode and can make a real mess. I know this from past, painful experience. I then replaced the bull rushes with the more well behaved hydrangeas.

I'm not all that fond of eucalypts in ikebana but there are a couple of exceptions. One is Corymbia ficifolia, which produces clusters of brightly coloured flowers this time of year. There is a street in our neighbourhood lined with these gorgeous, small trees. I helped myself to a couple of stems from the lower part of a tree and contemplated how to arrange them. I decided that they needed no other material but an interesting container. A happy discovery was that the branches are bendable, so I was able to place them in a hanging style, without them springing back.

My friend and colleague, Christopher, has also featured this material in his current blog and, if you would like to read the information he provides, please go to Roadside Ikebana.

Bye for now,

Emily

AGAPANTHUS

 

Hello all,

Agapanthus. Yes, I know, common as dirt and a noxious weed according to some councils. I, however, love them. Mass planted they make a stunning show in all soils and conditions.

I first started growing them about 30 years ago. We had two, mature pine trees in the front corner of our property. I had attempted to grow any number of pretty annuals under those trees with heartbreaking results. My sister-in-law, Toula, gave me my first agapanthus plants and, in time, I added more and more. I soon filled the whole patch with agapanthus, which did very well. Then, when the pine trees died and were removed, as was the root competition, the agapanthus became bigger and stronger with some of the umbels measuring 30 cm in diameter.

They are as tough as old boots, as Peter Cundall used to say. They require absolutely no care what so ever. No watering or feeding with only one job required and that is to dead head them before the seeds get into waterways and become a problem.

For us, ikebanists, it is a very useful material because it has many stages, all of which can be used in ikebana. The photograph, below, shows the different stages of the life of the flowerhead.

I had fun making a few arrangements now that the flowers are at their best.

I enjoyed watching these two stems grow after
I tied them together as buds.

The very tall, strong stems in the arrangement, below, were nature's doing. I had nothing to do with their shape. However, balancing the very heavy flowerheads was quite challenging.

The flowers in the photo, below, are quite special. The white are of the cultivar 'Queen Mum' and have a blue shading at the base to white at the lips. The dark coloured one is 'Agapanthus Purple Cloud'. I grow both of these plants in pots as I haven't found a good spot for them in the garden.

Wondering around the garden, I noticed a number of orange coloured flowers. I collected a few and made an arrangement which fits into two different themes in our curriculum - 'With Flowers Only' and 'Colours in a similar tonal Range'. I used tiger lilies, Lilium Lancifolium, orange cosmos, dahlias and crocosmia crocosmiiflora, in a self made container.

At our last Sogetsu meeting, Akemi Suzuki ran the workshop and the theme was to find something old, perhaps damaged, that has some personal value and to use it in ikebana, thus giving it new life.

The only thing I could think of was my precious container, which had broken and which I had glued back together using the kintsugi method. I used a branch from my weeping elm and sprayed it gold to reflect the kintsugi repair on the container. I added Jacobean lilies and aspidistra leaves. Please go to Sogetsu Victoria for photographs of Akemi's examples as well as those of the members.

The new year is almost upon us and I'd like to wish you all a very safe, healthy and happy 2025.

Bye for now,

Emily

 

Hello all,

I have two clumps of strelitzia reginae, which behave rather differently. The one growing in full sun produces masses of flowers of a normal size. The other is growing in part shade and has only ever produced about 10 flowers every November-December but they are really big. The stems can reach two metres and the 'beak' of the flowers has been known to reach 30 cm.

The flowers in the arrangement, above, are of the latter ones. Comparing their size to the hydrangeas in the arrangement, one can get an idea of just how big they are.

During this crazy time of year, having fallen behind on many of my chores, I've been running around like a hairy goat trying to catch up. Particularly in the garden. I even had to employ some help but I still have heaps to do. 

Below is the photo of our natural Christmas tree measuring 8 feet.

This is a close up of some of my hand made, crocheted decorations. I have more than 60 of them all together, which I made over 30 years ago. Having used them every Christmas since then, they became soiled from the resin of the pines and were in desperate need of washing and re-starching. This is a very time consuming job and I'd put it off year after year but no more. This Christmas they look pristine.

I made a few Christmas arrangements around the house, some of which I have already shared with you. In the wall arrangement, below, I used Cashmere cypress, Cupressus cashmeriana, white agapanthus and red roses. I finished it off with strands of silver mizuhiki.

Unfortunately, the photograph can't capture the sweeping form of the cypress, which 'hugs' the vase. So, I'm including a side view of the arrangement to give you an idea.

Every Christmas I like to bake a whole lot of traditional, Greek cookies to give to my friends and, for some, I also make floral arrangements. I made four such ones so far and here they are.

Gold sprayed cycad leaves, hydrangeas, hypericum berries and crucifix orchids

Blue coloured conifer that I can't identify, hydrangeas, hypericum
berries, fine silver threads and Christmas baubles.

Dried strelitzia reginae leaves, sprayed gold, agapanthus (Queen Mum)
and hypericum berries. Also, very fine, scrunched up red wire.

Close up of Queen Mum agapanthus showing the
purple colour on the 'neck' of each flower.

Cream calla lilies, pinellia pedatisecta leaves and Christmas baubles

All that remains is for me to wish you all a very happy and safe festive season and, for those celebrating Christmas, may it be as merry as can be!

Bye for now,

Emily

 

VERTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

 

Hello all, 

I looked at some of my photos destined for this blog and realized that I'm in a 'vertical' frame of mind. Many are 'Vertical Arrangements'.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Apart from themed work for exhibitions or workshops, my ikebana is always opportunistic. I get inspiration from the materials that are available at the time. 

Case in point is the arrangement, above. In my travels I came across these bullrushes, Scirpoides holoschoenus, in a very boggy spot. Treading very carefully with my inappropriate sandals, I managed to cut three of them. I, then, went into my storeroom looking for other material to use with them. As I was lifting a particular piece from the hook in the ceiling, the palm inflorescence fell and hit my head. I took that as an omen to use it.

Its natural colour is a very dull grey so I sprayed it with a copper spray. The curve of the branch and its colour determined the container. The challenge was to have the branch sitting upright without touching the container. Physics dictates that it cannot be. I used a sturdy stick, which I attached to  a kenzan at the bottom of the vase. I, then, wired the stick to the inflorescence, which held it in place. The only thing left was to conceal the stick and I did that with the placement of a leaf.

I really liked these misshapen agapanthus stems. They have a lot of character and needed only to be placed in an appropriate container.

The next arrangement came to be because I wanted to use this retro, glass container, which belonged to a beloved aunt, whom we lost recently. Her son and daughter-in-law offered relatives some mementos and this vase was mine. The calla lilies are conveniently flowering and are ideal for this simple, naturalistic arrangement.

As I was cutting strelitzia reginae flowers, I accidently cut a stem with two, large leaves. I stripped half of the large leaf and curled the smaller around it. I've been watching the deep purple agapanthus, Agapanthus Purple Cloud, as it was flowering and waiting for an opportunity to cut and use them.

This is a small, vertical arrangement, which lives in the powder room. The leaves are curculigo and the flower is a calla lily with some sort of mutation. 

I reworked a couple of arrangements to turn them into Christmas ones. 

I replaced the vase of the exhibition arrangement, below, with a tall, red one and sprayed the mahonia leaves gold. I removed the spent strelitzia flowers and replaced them with white hydrangeas and alstroemeria psittacina flowers. I, also, added gold beads and a couple of red baubles.

Similarly, the palm leaves in the arrangement, below, were sprayed gold and the blue agapanthus was replaced with a white one. Also, the container was more suited to Christmas.

Bye for now,

Emily

9TH DECEMBER 2024

 

Hello all,

At our last class for the year I set the theme of making a celebratory arrangement. This has become a tradition with my class.

I used a very tall, glass vase for my floor arrangement and, I have to confess, I took the lazy way out of a challenging problem. When using a transparent vase, the materials inside of the vase must be a part of the whole arrangement. In other words, the vase is not just a receptacle for water. In this case the stems of my flowers would have been visible and quite unattractive. So, since it was a Christmas arrangement, I coloured the water red, thus concealing the stems and giving the impression that it is a red vase.

This was all well and good but it created a new, potential problem. There was a good chance that the white hydrangeas would have absorbed the red dye and changed colour. I did not want that, so I put each stem in a water vial with clean water then placed them in the vase. So far, so good. 

Lei used one red and one white, glass vase for her Christmas arrangement. She added a sprayed magnolia branch, poinsettias, which she cut from her potted plant and coloured beads.

 Lucy opted for subtle colours in her Christmas arrangement. Her palm spathe was sprayed duck egg blue on the outside and a soft gold on the inside. She used dietes flowers and alstroemeria psittacina leaves. Her round, ceramic container was, also, soft gold.

Nicole created a very Australian, Christmas arrangement using kangaroo paw and sprayed gum nuts in two nageire containers.

Shaneen's colour scheme tends to be in the warm, earthy hues. In her arrangement she used two matching, glass vases and placed white hydrangea peniculata in the taller vase with a silver sprayed, dried branch and cineraria Silver Dust. In the second vase she used hydrangea macrophylla and a sprig of cineraria Silver Dust. She connected them all together with little, matching baubles.

Bredenia used a branch of woolly bush, Adenanthos sericeus, Which she had cut in May and used in the exhibition we had to celebrate 20 years of teaching. It's extraordinary that a cut branch would last for seven months and still look as fresh as it did when it was first cut. Here Bredenia used it in the horizontal form that it grew in a tall vase and added hydrangeas and mizuhiki.

Vicky wound a string of tiny lights around a large, sprayed branch , which she balanced over a red, glass vase. She added chrysanthemums, alstroemeria psittacina and silver baubles to complete her very festive arrangement.

Wendy is in revision and chose to make an arrangement 'With Flowers Only'. She chose an unusual, glass container in which she placed five, different types of flowers, although only four are visible in the photo.

Jenny used her time in class to make two floral bouquets for her daughters friends, who were getting married. She chose colours that were bright and 'happy' as this was such a happy occasion. The feedback she got from the brides was very positive.

Over the years many have expressed envy at the range of materials that my garden provides. When I say that it takes a great effort to keep a large, high maintenance garden going, I don't think they quite understand. Due to a number of factors, I have neglected my garden in recent times. I'm now working very hard to put some order in my overgrown with weeds garden. One of the biggest jobs is repotting cymbidium orchids and digging up spring bulbs that have finished and replacing them with summer ones, such as gloriosa lilies.

The old saying of 'A picture tells a thousand words' is quite true, so have a look at our BBQ area, below. It's been this messy for weeks and, I fear, it will be for a while longer before I finish. Yes, I'm shamelessly soliciting sympathy.

Bye for now,

Emily