27TH JANUARY 2025

 

Hello all,

My arrangement, above, started from my finding the asparagus fern (Asparagus setaceus) at the bottom of the garden with the delightful, little, bead like seed pods. I then, had to consider which container would be most appropriate. The drapey form of the fern suggested a tall vase from which to hang. I then scoured the garden for other materials - three red roses, two pineapple lilies ( Eucomis) and amaranthus.

Last week I featured a couple of arrangements using pine (Pinus radiata) but I still had more pine branches in the bucket, so here's another one in a self made, ceramic container. I used several stems of crucifix orchids in the space in the middle of the pine branch.

Keeping my wisteria under control is a constant battle. It's growing on the fence near a loquat and a persimmon tree and is constantly climbing onto them. It is quite a difficult task to disentangle it from the branches, often having to cut away said branches. During a recent such pruning session, I selected from the large pile some canes to use in ikebana. As I wanted to feature the curves of the stems, I removed all the leaves, leaving only the stalks. The ceramic container with the openings on either side was convenient to hold the canes in place. The space created was most important, so I kept the flowers, Hydrangeas and crocosmias, to one side.

In the interest of reusing and recycling, I created an arrangement with materials I had used before. The branches are from my weeping elm and are sprayed gold and were used in two previous arrangements. The pineapple lilies were, also, used before. The only new item was the agapanthus.

 

I was delighted to find a number of book leaf pines, Thuja orientalis aurea nana, in my daughter's garden and I helped myself to a couple of stems from the lower side of the conifer. Selecting a container was very easy. This one, practically, jumped out at me. The ginger flowers with their heady fragrance were beautiful but, sadly, did not last very long. I've removed them and will add some other flowers to replace the ginger.

At the bottom of the garden, in a shady spot, I found a very healthy looking hosta plant in flower. This plant is a favourite of snails, so that, finding one whose leaves are not eaten is a bonus, not to mention finding it in flower. 

In the arrangement, below, I used both the leaves and flowers and finished it off with some more wisteria.

In spring I had planted a punnet of leek seedlings in a large pot. As they grew and went to seed, I manipulated them to create interesting curved stems. I used two of them in the arrangement, below, and added dietes leaves at the base.

A couple of posts ago I featured a stem from my daughter's garden with which I was unfamiliar. A number of you wrote with suggestions of what it might be. I'm sorry to have to tell you that you were all wrong. Lucy helped me identify it. Silver senna is its common name and its botanical name is Senna Artemisioides. Now we all know. I'm looking forward to seeing it in flower in spring when it produces yellow flowers. I'll keep you posted.

Silver senna and corymbia

Bye for now,

Emily

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