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