24TH FEBRUARY, 2025

 

Hello all,

Last week we had our first Sogetsu meeting and workshop, which was conducted by Aileen Duke. The theme was 'Working with Aspidistra Leaves'.  My arrangement, above, was made by attaching wire on the underside of each aspidistra leaf, using double sided sticky tape, and then bending them into shape. I kept the look monochromatic, using leek flowers and squiggly grass.

I had missed the part of the instructions which stated that we were to use a combination of fresh and dried leaves, so I only brought fresh leaves to the workshop. After realizing my mistake I added a partially dried leaf provided by Aileen. However, I didn't like the result and removed it when I brought the arrangement home.

Please go to Sogestu Victoria for photographs of Aileen's demonstration pieces as well as those of the members.

I have a large pot in which I grew leeks and left them to go to seed. I did, however, manipulate them whilst they were growing to create interesting curves to the stems. I made one arrangement with two of the flowers four weeks ago and it still looks as good as when I first made it. I wanted to use the rest before they die. I had the glass vase with the black wire waiting to be put away, after the previous arrangement had died, so rather than look for other containers, I chose this one. Then I had the challenge of not showing the stems in the glass. The black wire came in handy both for covering the unattractive stems as well as some support for the flowers.

 And now to class. It's always a good idea at the beginning to each year to go back to basics. I set the lesson 'Variation No 8 - Moribana and Nageire'. This meant that the students had to make two basic arrangements, one moribana and one nageire, then place them close together to create one arrangement.

My example, below, is of Variation no. 4 slanting style nageire, reversed and Basic Upright moribana. I used crabapples, agapanthus, camelia and hydrangea. The colour of the containers is the linking element.

Lucy used Chinese privet (Ligistrum sinense) and liliums. Her arrangements were Variation No 4 slanting style moribana, reversed and Variation No 4 hanging style nageire. The yellow lilies are the linking element.

Jenny's arrangements were Variation No 4 slanting style moribana and Variation No. nageire, reversed. Her materials were crepe myrtle with seeds, Japanese maple and roses as the connecting element.

Nicole used the same materials for both arrangements - Hawthorn berries and leucadendrons.

She made a Basic slanting nageire and a Variation No. 1 slanting style moribana, reversed.

Cymbie made two Variation No. 4 upright arrangements, using American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), Star of Bethlehem Plant (Ornithogulum saundersiae) and Globe Thistles (Echinops Ritro).

Vicky, true to form, made an extra tall arrangement - Variation No. 3 Upright style nageire and Variation No. 4 Slanting Style moribana. For both arrangements Vicky used quince branches and marigolds.

Mary used camellia and Japanese maple branches and lisianthus. She made a Basic Upright moribana and Variation No. 4 Slanting style nageire, reversed.

Lei's lesson was to 'Arrange from Behind, moribana'. She chose Basic Upright and when she completed her demonstration, I suggested she make a nageire arrangement to make it into a Variation No. 8, thus joining the advanced students. I supplied her with a Japanese maple branch, which she used to create a Variation No. 4 Slanting style nageire, reversed. 

Wendy has just started Book 5 and her first lesson was 'Seasonal Materials'. In this lesson we are required to use materials that are only available in the current season. Wendy used crepe myrtle with flowers and seeds, hydrangeas changing into their autumnal colours and crabapples. She used two, recently acquired containers.

Bye for now,

Emily

MASTERCLASS #28

 

Hello all,

For each of the participants of the recent Masterclass I provided a branch of hawthorn berries, a branch of crabapples and a single hydrangea. They were instructed to study their materials and then select a container.

My example, above, is a wall arrangement, which I photographed on the table against a dark background because I can't get a good photograph against the white wall.

Akemi removed all the leaves from the hawthorn and the crabapples. She made a feature of the hawthorn branch, securing it upside down and added a small cluster of the crabapples and the one hydrangea to the back.

Bredenia emphasized the asymmetry in her arrangement by placing the large, hawthorn branch, heavy with berries to one side and the smaller branch of crabapples to the other. The hydrangea, then, becomes the focal point and the element that ties the two together.

Lucy chose a heavy, ceramic container with a split down the middle. She placed the long, hawthorn stems sweeping forward and added a small branch of crabapples and the single hydrangea.

Cymbie placed her materials inside and outside of the container, which has holes all around it. In this case the placement inside the container is as important as the outside because the stems are visible through the holes. Therefore Cymbie did not use a kenzan and, the removal of the leaves of the branches, meant that they did not need to be in water.

Christine followed the line of the lip of the container and created a sweeping line with the two different branches. She added just a small hydrangea allowing the branches to be the main focus.

For Mary I set the theme 'With Leaves Only'. Since Mary has no garden she has to resort to buying flowers and, with Valentine's Day on Friday, we felt flowers would be both scarce and expensive.

A walk around my garden and we came up with a number of interesting leaves. Mary used New Zealand flax, Curculigo, Canna lily and calla lily leaves in a ceramic suiban.

Last week we had our first Ikebana International meeting. Our guest speaker was Dr Jacinta Burke from Rose Care. She is a lady with a long list of credentials and her presentation was both entertaining and informative. We, the members, were asked to bring arrangements using roses.

In my arrangement, below, I used some more prunings from my wisteria, from which I removed the leaflets, leaving the stems only. After the heatwaves we had recently, the only roses I could find in the garden were my trusty Altissimos.

Bye for now,

Emily

2025 - FIRST CLASS

 

Hawthorn berries, crabapples and dahlias 

Hello all,

Classes for the year began last Wednesday. We all enjoyed getting together again after such a long break. Studying ikebana takes a very long time, which means that students and teacher get to know each other quite well and develop a unique relationship. I genuinely miss the girls when I haven't seen them for a while.

For the first class I set a relatively easy theme - 'Seasonal Materials'. My example, above, is of a wall arrangement which I photographed against a black background rather than on the wall on which it is hanging. When photographing against a white background, the colours seem to be distorted somewhat, whereas against a black background the colours are rich and vibrant.

Cymbie used a stem of rose hips and hydrangea in a ceramic container. The stem reflects the shape of the container.

Bredenia sacrificed a number of pomegranates for her arrangement and added Corymbia ficifolia and Amaryllis belladonna in a large, ceramic container.

Mary used Portuguese laurel, Prunus lusitanica with its berries, amaranthus and hydrangea in a footed, ceramic suiban.

Lucy's vertical arrangement comprised of hanging amaranthus, hydrangea and crabapples in a ceramic vase.

Vicky used a long, contorted hazel stem, Corylus avellana contorta, in a vertical arrangement and added a single geranium flower.

Nicole, who tends to favour baskets, chose grass seedheads, nandina domestica, hawthorn berries, hydrangea and belladonna lilies.

Lei's curriculum lesson was 'What Ikebana Can Do Today'. She planned for her arrangement to be placed in the waiting room of her hairdressing salon. She started with an interesting, metal container and added palm fronds, which she trimmed heavily, massed statice and a single anthurium. This arrangement could fit into two curriculum themes - 'The Shape of the Container' and 'Repeating Similar Shapes'.

Wendy's curriculum theme was 'With Leaves Only'. In this exercise the interest is created by the different colours, shapes and textures of leaves. Wendy used young strelitzia nicolai, New Zealand flax, canna and cordyline leaves in a large, ceramic vase.

Dianne's exercise was 'Fruiting Branches'. The challenge in this exercise is to balance the branches, which are heavier than normal because of the fruit on them. Dianne used nectarine branches and added kniphofias. It required some stabilizing of the kenzan by wedging a horizontal fixture over it to prevent it from tipping over due to the weight of the fruit.

The arrangement was very pleasing with the main stem sweeping forward. However, in the photograph the branch appears to be sweeping upwards...

... so we cut the branch to lower it, thus making the arrangement more balanced.

Bye for now,

Emily

ZIG ZAGS

Hello all,

The stems of hydrangea in the arrangement, above, caught my attention by their interesting zig zagging form. I chose a container, whose shape reflected the zig zags.

There's a clump of soft rushes, Juncus effuses, around the corner which I see every time I drive past and always think that I should cut some. Yesterday I did. I've always been drawn to graphic designs and I wanted to see what the rushes would allow me to do. My first thought was zig zags. Below are two arrangements that are quite self explanatory. The flowers are crucifix orchids, Epidendrum Radicans.

And now, on to other things. The beef steak begonia, Begoniaerithrophylla, which I grow for the leaves, is looking very healthy in this warm weather. During winter it suffers, which is not surprising given that it is an indoor plant and I have it growing in a pot outside. I particularly like the fibonacci spiral of the leaves and the dark red of their underside. Sadly, that's not visible in the photograph, below,

.

In the depths of the very back of the garden I spied a bromeliad, Queens Tears. It is so lovely that it just needed to be placed in a vase. However, its stem is soft and droopy, which necessitated some fixings to stop it from resting on the lip. The leaf is another beef steak begonia.

I'm a little short on content this week because we're in the midst of a heat wave, which affects the plants as well as people. I've been spending hours on watering and protecting sensitive plants from getting cooked. And, as unpleasant as it is for us in the city, my thoughts go to those risking life and limb to fight fires that are destroying our countryside and to those families that are at risk of losing everything.

Bye for now,

Emily