16th November, 2020

Agave, crucifix orchids and alstroemeria psittacina leaves

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Hello all,

Last Saturday, 11th November, apart from being Remembrance Day, it was also the 20th anniversary of my father's passing. My sisters, mother and I went to the cemetery with flowers and various accoutrements including the wheat dish (koliva) made at memorial services in the Greek tradition. It was a quiet, peaceful time relating favourite stories about dad and his mother, who is buried with him.

As we were leaving, we came across a large clump of agave that had been butchered by vandals. It looked like someone took a machete and hacked at it. Vicky was able to exercise restraint and did not take any pieces. Lucy and I, however, couldn't resist, despite having no gloves and took some home.

I was drawn to the partially dried piece for its colour and shape. At home, I first had to find the right height vase so that it would balance comfortably. I settled on this split vase for its height and colour as well as the two splits that allowed me to wire the agave onto the vase, otherwise, the whole thing would have toppled over. I had intended to use a mass of some floral material in the centre of the agave but, when I looked closely at the interesting pattern that had been created by the drying process, I felt I should make that the focus. So, then, I needed material with thin stems to fit through the tiny opening. Enter crucifix orchids, which provided the line and colour. The alstroemeria psittacina leaves created the mass as well as concealing the wires.

Closeup of wiring of agave to container

Closeup of centre of agave

And, of course, when have you known me to stop at one arrangement? I don't often have the luxury of cutting the heart of the agave because that would stop the growth of the plant. In this case, however, I was just rescuing. I unfurled the soft green inner leaves and exerted some effort to create the arrangement, below. I managed to get a very fragile equilibrium, long enough to photograph, then I took it apart because I know that as the agave dries it shrinks and loses its balance. I had visions of the whole thing coming down. I made two new arrangements with the material.

Here's a little tip. The agave pieces in the arrangement on the left are too soft and weak to hold their weight, so I reinforced them by inserting a dowel as far down as it would go and it worked a treat.

The arrangement on the right could address two different exercises - Glass Containers and Fresh and unconventional material.

These next arrangements were made by Lucy.

Agave and aeonium in ceramic container

Agave and geraniums in ceramic container

My evergreen dogwood (Cornus capitata) or Hazel's dogwood as I call it, has finally flowered. I'm usually careful not to cut big pieces of plants that are slow growing, such as the dogwoods. However, our neighbour at the back cuts anything that even peakes over the fence, so I cut this piece before he did. I made a variation no. 6 horizontal style nageire and, I have to confess, I had to double check the angles. Covid has a lot ot answer for.

Cornus capitata and roses - Queen Elizabeth

   

Wall arrangement - cornus capitata and hippeastrum 

And another material that had to be rescued, not from the neighbour but from possums, was the bunch of tomarilos. I would have liked to have cut them with a stem but I would have had to sacrifice flowers further down the stem, so I didn't. I did the best I could without the benefit of a stem. And, when I no longer need them for ikebana, I can hand them to Sam, who absolutely loves them.

Iceberg roses and tomarilos. They look a lot
like died easter eggs.

I leave you with this cheeky little arrangement of my only two ornithogalums in the container made by brother-in-law, Peter.

Bye for now,

Emily

9th November, 2020

 

Althea, the delightful little fairy at the bottom of my garden with
her ikebana arrangement.

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Hello all,

With the loosening of restrictions I was able to enjoy the company of precious grandchildren again. Althea is very keen to learn Ikebana and is giving her older sister, Hermione, a run for her money. Can you imagine how happy that makes me?

I enjoyed, so much, spending time with Althea in the back yard, gathering daisies, then making them into a garland for her.

We've had a couple of warm days, causing the Siberian iris to flower all at once. I love their deep purple colour and thin, long stems but they are quite ephemeral, so I had to hurry up and arrange them before they die. Like most other iris, they do have a second flower bud on each stem, which flowers when the first one dies, thus extending their life somewhat. I like to display them against white materials as it is a good foil for the deep purple.

Palm inflorescence, Siberian iris and alstroemeria psittacina leaves
in a self made container

I, also, like to make a 'pond' arrangement this time of year using some iris or other. This time I used the Siberian iris. The suiban is one I made specifically for 'pond' arrangements. I used crushed blue and green glass on the bottom, which melted when fired, to create the look of water.

Willow, Siberian Iris, Japanese maple and
coriander flowers

I was repotting my Fatsia japonica plant and broke one of the leaves. It had such a lovely curve, much like a cantilever umbrella, that I thought of using it as such. 

Rose -Queen Elizabeth and Fatsia Japonica
in self made container

Ah, yep. Still more red hippeastrums with a palm spathe, the inside of which I sprayed gold.

My spuria iris produced very few flowers this year because I had divided them in winter, as they were very crowded. I used a couple in the arrangement, below, with half a Monstera deliciosa leaf.

The first flush of the roses, which is the best for the year was also affected by the warm weather and I had to dead head most of them. There were still a few useable ones.

Mr Lincoln roses, iceberg roses, alstroemeria
psittacina leaves and wisteria vine

The Louisiana iris were quite plentiful this year and, having already arranged them in the traditional way, I thought I'd try using them as a mass of flowers in this wall arrangement. Vicky brought me a very big piece of nandina domestica with flower buds. I had to cut it back severely to use it. 

Bye for now,

Emily

2nd November, 2020

 

Horizontal arrangement. Portugal laurel (Prunus lusitanica) and Altissimo roses

Hello all,

I had planted some years go the Portugal laurel to screen off our rather large air conditioning units on the southern part of the house. I am greatly indebted to the nurseryman who had suggested this tree for my needs. It has successfully screened the ugly units but it has also done so much more. The glossy dark leaves, which resemble camellias, are quite useful in ikebana. But, even more useful are the inflorescences, which grow above the stems and have a delicate perfume. And, as if that was not enough, they turn into reddish berries in autumn. I understand it is also useful as a hedging plant. Love it!

I cut off a rather large branch at the top of the tree to stop it from getting too tall and, of course, I couldn't throw it away. When I removed the superfluous stems I was left with this bowl shaped piece. I thought it was perfect for my large, fluted glass bowl, which normally sits on the buffet in my bedroom. This bowl is quite heavy and very delicate. It is, also, much prized because it was a gift from my daughter. I couldn't risk carrying it down the stairs, so decided to make the arrangement in the bedroom. Something I don't normally do. I must admit, though, I like the arrangement in the bedroom and will make more in the future.

I went down the street the other day to collect fallen pine needles to put around our strawberry plants and I noticed a whole lot of weeds, which had all gone to seed. With plentiful rain and a lax council, which did not clear the weeds along the road, they were looking very robust and quite beautiful. It reminded me of a lesson we used to do with our teacher, Carlene, of using a variety of grasses. Nostalgia kicked in and I attempted an arrangement. 

I know, from past experience, that grasses shrivel up and dry very quickly after they are cut, even with the use of alcohol, so I dug them up by the roots. This is a good way to preserve them longer but it becomes almost impossible to insert them in a kenzan. I chose this container for its colour and shape but, also, for the size of the opening. I wanted to be able to wedge in my material to make it stand upright.

It's a challenging exercise and I have to wonder if the resulting arrangement was worth the considerable effort. I tried to create interest by using the different textures and shapes of the grasses but, the lack of colour and the loss of depth in the photograph can result in an almost amorphous mass of green.

Unsatisfied as I was, I took it apart and made a couple of smaller arrangements with fewer materials.

Grasses with chive flowers

Grasses with Portugal laurel flowers

Close up of one of the seed heads

Another material that is worth its weight in gold is the snow ball tree (Viburnum opulus). After using it whilst the flowers were green and small, then, later when they were big and snow white, now I find the inflorescences  that remain after the flowers have fallen have a charm all their own. And in autumn the whole tree will colour beautifully. A must have for any ikebanist.

A simple mass and line arrangement. Viburnum 
opulus and squiggly grass, which, I must point out 
leans forward.

 

Close up of inflorescence

Cymbidium orchids, as beautiful as they are, are not easy to use. They have a very rigid stem and shape that can't be manipulated. Arrangements have to be designed around the orchid, where as we normally create a design and add the flower to complete it. I manged to save this one stem from those pesky snails and slugs.

Cymbidium orchid, dietes leaves and black cane

In a suiban without a kenzan. 
Curculigo flowers and leaves.

I leave you with this little arrangement featuring my second peony flower for the year. This is from a herbaceous plant that I've had for years and which flowered parsimoniously! We recently had tradesmen in to install some agi pipes to control excessive water on the north part of the garden. Unbeknownst to me, they dug right through the peony clump and dumped the rhizomes to the side. I don't have the words to describe how I felt. So, when one of those discarded rhizomes flowered, it was almost as though it was trying to placate me.

Bye for now,

Emily

26th October, 2020

 

Hippeastrums and found, dry daisy plant in lacquered, asymmetric suiban

Hello all,

Yes, more hippeastrums. For many years I have been only modestly successful with these plants but this year I gave them the attention they deserved, at the right time and they have rewarded me in spades. I have many more buds to open. I'm looking forward to some colours other than red.

My Louisiana iris are looking quite lovely. Snails usually get to my flowers because I'm reluctant to use snail bait but, I confess, I used some this year with the result being more and healthier flowers.

Front view of traditional arrangement of iris

Side view showing the placement of the stems
and leaves

Spuria iris, mollis azalea and kiwi vine

Our good friends, Nick and Olga have recently purchased a new property on which they will build their new home. The existing house will be demolished as well as the established but neglected garden. At Olga's suggestion, we had planned to organise a class excursion to the property to help ourselves to the abundant material before the excavators arrived. Unfortunately, covid put paid to that. Work is about to start, so I went on my own and collected materials that I don't have in my garden. I dedicate the arrangements, below, to Olga.

Olga's wisteria and my Altissimo roses. It might be hard to believe that
it took me over an hour to create this arrangement.

Flowers from a succulent, whose name
I don't know

Ginger seed heads and colourful geranium
leaves. The strelitzia is from my garden

Close up of geranium leaves

I was very taken by the colours of this particular geranium and have taken cuttings to strike.

More of the geranium and my mollis azalea in a wall arrangement.

In the next arrangement I used a very big container made by Graham Wilke, which normally sits in the bathroom because it is so big and precious. When I cut these giant aeoniums from Olga's I struggled to find an appropriate container, so put them aside. It was only when I was cleaning the bathroom that I remembered I had this one and had to get Sam to bring it down for me. Two of the lessons in our book 3 are about paying attention to the colour and the shape of the container. I'm satisfied that this combination works well on both counts.

And while I'm on the subject of containers, apart from the colour and the shape, we should, also, pay attention to the style. Some very plain containers can be successfully used for both naturalistic and modern arrangements. However, there are many that have a distinct style, such as rustic looking ones for naturalistic and sleek, bold ones for more modern.

So, thank you Olga. I hope you enjoy these photos of my arrangements as much as I have enjoyed making them.

Bye for now,

Emily

19th October, 2020

 

Hello all,

Yes, it is possible to have too much material. A number of my hippeastrums flowered at the same time, challenging me to make a suitable arrangement. With such large, bold flowers, I had to keep to a simple design. Luckily, I have this 65cm, metal trough, which fit the bill perfectly. I, also, have a large number of cottage gladioli, which have flowered all at once, so they, too, were put to use. The black wisteria vine added line and asymmetry. 

I found tucked under a large willow branch this stem of mahonia, which caught my attention by the bright orange colour on the tips of some of the leaves. I don't know why this happens because mahonia is an evergreen and does not change colour. As I looked at it more closely, I noticed the soft, russet coloured new growth and delicate, blue berries. I removed many of the leaves, leaving this pin wheel shape and added the strelitzia, which picked up the orange colour of the leaves as well as the blue berries. These subtleties are mostly lost in the photograph.

The mahonia 'pinwheel' measures about 1 metre in diameter

I took mum to the radiologist last week and when I drove into the car park I was struck by the vibrant red coloured flowers of quite a large callistemon. As we were leaving I asked for permission to cut some and was told to help myself. The problem was that other drivers going in and out of the car park didn't know that I had permission. When people walked past I felt obliged to say that I had permission. It's amazing how much guilt you can feel even when you're not guilty.

I use this large, ceramic vase quite infrequently (mostly at Christmas) because it is so bold and dominates an arrangement but I thought it worked well enough here teamed with masses of viburnum opulus.

I found some more of these strange looking flowers - Arum italicum - Pictum. Last time I used one, it had drooped over itself in one day. This time they lasted for three days, probably because I cut them earlier, almost in bud.

Every October, for a number of years now, these delightful flowers come out of the ground with their hooded spathes and long tongue-like spadix. The leaves are compound with three leaflets. I have been unsuccessful in my efforts to find out their name except that they belong to the Araceae family. I was delighted when Lucy told me yesterday that they are called pinellia tripartita. I'm very happy to concede that Lucy is much better at navigating the internet that me.

This wall arrangement was created solely to showcase the wisteria,which needed the height for the racemes to be hanging down.

Wisteria, strelitzia reginae leaf and cottage gladioli

A couple of interesting things happening in our garden. 

Our gymea lily, doryanthes palmeri, has four gigantic flowers. For those who are unfamiliar with this plant, it is difficult to guage its size. The flower stalks, called scapes, are about 2.5 metres tall with very heavy, large flower heads comprising of many individual flowers. Because of this weight, the stems tend to droop. I should explain that ours is a clump of many rosettes. Once a rosette flowers, it dies but produces many new rosettes in its place. It is endemic to a very small part of New South Wales and Queensland and the flower spikes and roots were a food source for indigenous Australians. Our clump has pride of place in the front garden and I have noticed a number of people stopping to photograph it.

The other plant of interest this time of year is our walnut tree, which is in flower. It produces large, pendulous, male flowers that hang down below the stem and tiny little female ones that sit above the stem. I noticed an abundance of bees amongst the branches of the tree. I hope that means we'll get some decent walnuts.

Male flowers

Female flowers

By for now,

Emily