14TH SEPTEMBER, 2026

 

Hello all,

The celebratory arrangement, above, was made using dry branches, one coloured black and the other white. The fresh materials were disbud chrysanthemums and cotoneaster berries.

The stems in the glass arrangement, below, are acanthus, as is the small leaf. The flowers a crucifix orchids.

The autumnal coloured material in the next arrangement is a strawberry stem with hydrangeas at the back.

Agaves feature often in my ikebana and below is another example. The container is a tall and heavy one, necessary to support the heavy agaves as well as the pomegranates.

I, also, used agave in the next arrangement but this time it is much smaller and secondary to the container. The magnolia flower is partially hidden, again, to allow the container to shine.

I look at this next arrangement with sadness because my garrya elliptica tree has since died, thanks to some careless plumbers.

I had to wire the jonquil leaves in the next arrangement, so that I could shape them this way. The arum lily finished the piece.

The arum lilies in the arrangement, below, have been manipulated by me when they were buds to create these curves. At the mouth of the container I placed arum leaves.

I have a large patch of monstera deliciosa plants, so I can afford to cut some even before they unfurl. I love the ceramic container but I avoid using it too often because it is a little unstable.

My sister, Lucy, had gifted me the aluminium, art piece, below. Here I used it as a container on the wall. I used a camellia and Portuguese laurel berries. 

Bye for now,

Emily

7TH SEPTEMBER, 2026

 

Hello all,

Continuing with photos from the archives. The container in the arrangement, above, is one I made many years ago and have used it here with tarnished, copper pipes and blue iris.

The arrangement, below, requires no explanation except that I love the Kamo Hon Ami camellia  and use it as often as I can.

I used a giant philodendron leaf, from which I removed all but one section and placed it in a donut shaped container. The mass of nandina domestica nana adds colour.

I remember making the arrangement, below, as I was trying to find a different way to use aspidistra leaves. I had cut an asymmetric V shape at the top of the leaves and placed them in a row with the taller ones at the front, graduating to the shortest at the back. The berries are from nandina domestica.

The wall arrangement, below, has a winter theme. The bare branches are magnolia soulangiana and the rest are camellias and cotoneaster berries.

The small arrangement, below, is made with beefsteak begonia leaves and a rose in a lopsided vase.

I used jonquil leaves and flowers in the next arrangement. The leaves have been wired and twisted to give a windswept look.

I used floating, cotoneaster berries inside the glass decanter as well as a stem with berries at the tip. The black material is a thick wire.

I made the vase in the next arrangement in the early days of my ikebana journey, when I was quite inexperienced. I have since learnt that the less pattern on a container, the more useable it is. However, I do like it and use it, almost exclusively, with dry, ZN flax flowers.

Bye for now,

Emily

31ST AUGUST, 2026

Photo by Nick Dale

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that for the next, several weeks I will not be creating much ikebana but I will be sharing photos with you from my archives.

The arrangement, above, requires no explanation apart from naming the materials. They are pine (pinus radiata), two different coloured hydrangeas and pomegranates.

In the arrangement, below, the dry branch is book leaf pine (Thuja orientalis) The flowers are cymbidium orchids and the lleaves are dietes.

Next is a 'Double Shin' arrangement made with two, small gymea leaves, leafless wattle (acacia aphylla) and banksias.

The next is an arrangement using two containers. The materials are agapanthus, NZ flax and mahonia flowers. The containers are stainless steel.

The wall arrangement, below, is made using a conifer (perhaps cypress) and a mass of chrysanthemums. Much of the conifer has been trimmed to reveal the curves of the branches.

Emphasizing the container was the aim for the next arrangement. The materials are mollis azalea branch, hydrangea and pomegranates.

The next arrangement is made using two, mahonia leaves, one going upwards and one down. The flowers are nerines and the vine is kiwi.

I'm not particularly fond of the ruffled fishbone fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia) but, as an exercise, I challenged myself to find a way to use it. Below are two arrangements with the fern stripped of more than half of its leaves and allowed the lines of the stems and the elevation to be the main focus. In the first I added crucifix orchids for the floral focus...

..... and in the second, a wall arrangement, I used hydrangeas. 

I think the branch, below, is a diosma. The flower, of course, is strelitzia reginae.

Bye for now,

Emily

MASTERCLASS #34

 Hello all,

For our recent Masterclass I had given the students large bunches of bare branches plus two NZ flax leaves and two agapanthus flower inflorescences. I instructed them to create a composition without a container or kenzan.

As always, I challenge myself with the same exercise and I made the piece, above, using fig branches and the other, green materials.

Vicky had apple branches, which she intertwined to create similar shapes. She used only one of her leaves and agapanthus. Photo, below.

Lei, also, had apple ranches. Hers was a more contemporary design. She reduced the size of the branches considerably and bent some of them to create the desired effect. She, too, used only one of each of her fresh materials.

Angie's branches were from the persimmon tree. She cut down 2 very big branches and secured them in a naturalistic style, using all of her green materials.

Bredenia, a little uncharacteristically, kept her branches long. She chose not to use the NZ flax but did use the agapanthus.

Lucy's long, curved, fig branches were quite challenging but she managed to balance them, adding all of her green materials.

I made the arrangement, below, three weeks ago. The bent pelargonium stem happened naturally and I placed it in a round container to create a contrast. The aloe flower was, also, naturally curved.  

After a week the aloe flower died but the pelargonium was still fresh, so I replaced the flower with a camellia stem.

Another week later and another flower replacement. This time it's a salvia flower.

For this week's camellia arrangement I'm using the photo of Mary's workshopping camellias arrangement. This material is considerably challenging to arrange correctly, so it's important to practice using it as much as possible.

Mary used a trough container and added hellebores, leaves and flowers, over the kenzan.

Bye for now,

Emily

GREEN PLANT MATERIALS

 

Hello all,

For our recent, regular class I had set the theme 'Green Plant Materials' for the advanced students.

I made the arrangement, above, using haemanthus lily leaves, green goddess lilies, clivia berries and spear grass (xanthorrhoea).

And the one, below, is a wall arrangement made with a monstera deliciosa leaf cut in half, aeoniums and red hot poker leaves (kniphofia).

Mary used aspidistra leaves, some of which she folded, clivia berries, carnations and xanthorrheoa.

Vicky used a large piece of yacca, whose leaves she turned down. She added xanthorrhoea and agapanthus.

Lei used a delightful double suiban container and her materials were fishbone ferns (nephrolepis exaltata), elk horn fern, palm inflorescence and alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

Lucy made two arrangements, the first contemporary, using the heart of agave which she separated, giving her many pieces, green goddess lilies and an arum lily leaf.

The second, naturalistic. Her materials were aspidistra leaves, arum lily leaves and a succulent, kalanchoe blossfeldiana in an elevated, ceramic suiban.

Wendy's exercise was a freestyle arrangement. She placed her two containers in such a way as to work as one. She used arum lilies plus one leaf and wattle.

For this week's camellia arrangement I was inspired by the two, hanging stems with buds. I based the arrangement on the Variation no. 4, Hanging style. 

Bye for now,

Emily

LUCY'S DEMO

 

Hello all,

Our recent Sogetsu workshop was presented by our Lucy. She had selected one of the most challenging themes of our curriculum - 'Composition Expressing a Movement'. She did a very accomplished demonstration. I would be more effusive in my praise but, as her sister and her teacher, I feel I have to be more restrained.

The arrangement, above, representing 'Bouncing' was made by Lucy prior to the workshop. The materials are Siberian dogwood (cornus Siberica Alba), which she joined using 'V' shaped wires to create sharp points, dietes leaves and Queens's tears bromeliad (Billbergia nutans)

Lucy's next arrangement clearly represents 'Rolling'. She used wisteria to create the rings, which she sprayed black. She used a sprig of an unknown shrub and a stem of cymbidium orchid. This arrangement also fits the theme 'The shape of the container'.

Lucy's third arrangement was quite large and represented the movement 'Blowing in the Wind'. Lucy used a large branch from her weeping cherry tree and branches of Japanese flowering quince. She, also, added dietes leaves following the same direction as the branches simulating a wind swept look. 

For my arrangement, below, I wanted to express 'Twirling'. I wired jonquil leaves vertically, which allowed me to shape them. I added the anthurium and clivia berries to complete the arrangement.

Jenny's arrangement represented 'Flowing'. She used a bare branch, fishbone ferns (Nephrolepis cardifolia), NZ flax and alstroemeria. The container's shape added to the intended movement.

I've been doing some winter pruning. Some of the cuttings were too good to throw away. I made the arrangement, below, with hydrangea prunings.

At our last class Lucy, having finished early, started another arrangement, for which she did not have the right materials to finish. So, she left it in the studio. Photo, below.

Naturally, I had to finish it. I looked around the garden for materials and tried a couple different ones but was not quite happy with either. In the first I used matchstick bromeliad flowers (Aechmea gamosepala). In the second I used leucadendrons.

First attempt

Second attempt.

Finally, I settled on the one, below, using a camellia..... 

At least I thought I did until I found this other camellia. You may well ask why is the second camellia better than the first. Well, I'll tell you. The stem of the second follows the line of the cut in the leaf.

Bye for now,

Emily