FRUIT BEARING BRANCHES

 

Hello all,

Autumn is a great time of the year for the lesson 'Fruit Bearing Branches' so, that's the theme I set for last Wednesday's class.

In my wall arrangement, above, I used a branch of  osage oranges (maclura pomifera), from which I removed all the leaves, leaving just the fruit. I added Hydrangeas and a large amaranthus stem.

Lucy, also, used branches of osage oranges. She, judiciously, removed some of the leaves leaving just enough for a very natural look. This arrangement fits into the theme of 'Using One Kind of Material'.

Jenny kept her arrangement very simple, using two branches of Japanese flowering quince, with two fruit on them. She considered adding more material but, the general consensus of the class, was that she should leave it as it was. The container is always an integral part of any arrangement. In this case the colour and shape of the vase make it the second element, thus eliminating the need for more materials.

Vicky used kiwi vines laden with fruit in two, heavy containers. She removed most of the leaves, allowing the fruit to be the main feature. She added a large, belladonna lily to complete the arrangement.

Cymbie used a branch of kaffir lime, upside down, over a heavy, glass container. She managed to place her materials in the container, hiding the stems behind the coloured streaks within the glass and keeping the visible interior of the container free.

Mary used two different fruiting branches - osage oranges and kaffir limes. She added lisianthus lilies and white roses, in a nageire container.

Dianne's curriculum theme was 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'. She chose roses for this exercise. She removed all the petals and leaves from the long stems, created a structure with the stems and massed the petals and leaves separately on the shallow plate.

Wendy's curriculum theme was 'Tate no Soji Dome'. In this arrangement we use a vertical fixture to secure the branches at the required angle. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the branch material that Wendy used. The flowers, of course, are roses.

Lei is finishing Book 5 of the curriculum and one of the final lessons is to demonstrate a nageire arrangement from behind. She managed it very well!

At last week's Ikebana International meeting we celebrated Japan Day. A number of the Japanese ladies in our chapter produced delicious, Japanese food to go with our morning tea. They also, demonstrated traditional Japanese gift wrapping with Furoshiki fabric. We were asked to bring a piece of cloth and a bottle or nageire container on which to practice this wrapping ourselves. My example, below, is made with a silk cloth, which was a gift from Kosa Nishiyama-sense during one of my trips to Japan.

We were, also, asked to bring arrangements with a theme of 'Wrapping'. In my arrangement my two passions converged - my ikebana and my dressmaking. I have a pleated fabric which is sold with the paper used in the pleating process. I used some of that paper. I flattened the pleats and sprayed one side black. As the pleating was fanned out, it revealed the white in between. With this relentless hot weather, I was hard pressed to find materials in the garden that had not been damaged. The loquat branch is always reliable and the roses and dahlias had some newly opened flowers. The amaranthus is still looking good but it does require daily watering. For more photographs of members' arrangements and examples of Furoshiki wrapping, go to Instagram - ikebanainternationalmelbourne.

Photograph curtesy of Lei Wang

And before I end this post, I wanted to let you know that our chapter will be exhibiting at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show again this year. Our stand is double the size of previous years, so, we hope, will be doubly worth visiting. I hope to see you there.

Bye for now,

Emily