Hello all,

Last week I visited my elderly uncle and untie, bringing them some dinner, when I noticed their cherry tree and magnolia tree in full bloom beckoning to me. They readily allowed me to cut some branches from both but I was careful to only cut a small amount from each. I checked with google for the name of the magnolia and, I think, it is Magnolia Soulangeana Rustica Rubra. Whatever the name it is quite delightful and the flowers have lasted for four days, which is unusual for a magnolia.

Their cherry tree actually produces fruit and is not just ornamental, however, the fruit are only enjoyed by the birds. I arranged the branch in a basket and added bright red rhododendron and camellia flowers. I see it as a very happy, spring arrangement.

Jenny Made a variation No.1 Upright style, moribana using the pink colored Toona Sinensis and red roses. The other arrangement is Variation no. 4 horizontal style, nageire reversed, which is made up of a beautiful but, rather, foul smelling pear blossom branch and red roses.

Nicole used pussy willow and alstroemeria in Variation No. 4 upright style, nageire and Variation No. 4 slanting style, moribana, using an Australian native branch, the name of which I don't know. The alstroemeria is a connecting element in the arrangements.

Shaneen used seven different materials but was able to prevent her arrangement from looking western by grouping her materials and allowing some space in the middle with some stems showing. She, also, left part of the lip of the container free of materials.

Wendy's class theme was 'Lines at the Base'. She used yellow broom and Dutch iris, with the clean lines of the stems coming out of the centre of the container. She chose the materials because the yellow of the iris picked up the yellow of the broom.

Emily

 

Sam blowing out the candles with his two, beautiful assistants.

Hello everyone,

I usually try to keep the personal content in this blog to a minimum but this is a once in a lifetime event and I had to share it. Sam is turning seventy this month and we, the family, planned a surprise birthday party for him. I'd booked a restaurant as we couldn't have it at home and invited 70 people. It took a great deal of subterfuge and a number of ruses to prevent him from guessing what we were planning.

Because Sam works from home, I could make no preparations here, so I had to keep inventing reasons to go to Vicky's place so we could work on the cake, which looks simple enough but was, in fact quite challenging. 

All our efforts were rewarded because the party was a resounding success, especially for the birthday boy, who was totally surprised. It helps that he is just about the most trusting person I know. Everyone at the party was commenting on how good it was to catch up with friends after such a long time. The kids were particularly excited at the idea of a surprise and were very good at keeping the secret. A couple of them even had a speech for their papou. 

I wanted a floral arrangement next to the cake and, because of lack of time, I reworked one I had done for my demonstration at the Box Hill Town Hall. Originally, the bamboo was green and, as it faded, it became quite dull, so I sprayed it black and used anthuriums instead of the crucifix orchids. I also added some alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

And now back to ikebana. A lovely family has recently moved into the property adjoining the back of ours. The previous owner had managed to alienate all the neighbours and we were  all delighted to see him go. Anyway, there is a mature weeping mulberry on this very large property, which I can see from my balcony and which I have always coveted. Benny, the neighbour, seems so friendly that I felt I could ask if I could cut some of the underneath stems. Well, he was so generous, he brought out a chain saw and cut two very big pieces and offered to cut more if I wanted it. Needless to say I was extremely grateful and as soon as I get a minute I'll bake some biscuits for them. The first arrangement, which featured in last week's post is made with the very twisted, thick part of the underside of the plant.

The second one is with a very big branch of the 'weeping', exterior part that I had to trim substantially but which still remains big. The giant  euphorbia were grown and given to me by Lucy and were ideal to balance with the size of the branch. I find the new leaf buds on the branch particularly charming. They have grown bigger since the photo was taken.

In situ on the dining table.

And the offcuts were not to be discarded. The gentle curves of those long stems worked well in the striking, lacquered suiban. The arum lilies follow the lines of the stems and I kept the alstroemeria psittacina quite low so as not to obstruct the curves of the stems.

My aeonium produced a flower, which I've been wanting to use for some time and today was the day. The red dogwood (Cornus Siberica alba) has been a deep red colour all winter and now is producing bright green leaves on the tips of the red stems. Gorgeous! So I put th two together in a large, ceramic vase.

Another charming plant is my leafless wattle (acacia aphylla), especially this time of year when it is in flower. Unlike most other wattles, its flowers don't grow in clusters but are like individual little gems. It is a small plant so I cut a small piece. The yellow edged petals of the tulips pick up the color of the wattle and the ceramic vase was, also, chosen for its colour.

It is now 11.30 pm and I'm quite exhausted, so I'll wish you all a good night.

Emily

Hello all,

For today's Masterclass I provided each attendant with a large branch of corky elm and five green goddess lilies. They were to select their own containers for their arrangement. Although they look dry, the branches were fresh, making them malleable, able to be bent and reshaped.

 Prior to class I, also, challenged myself with the same exercise. The result is the arrangement, above. The branches were very straight but I was able to bend them to create  the repeated curves

Jenny, also, used a container with a split down the middle. She manipulated the branches minimally and fed the branch through the opening. She added three lilies not quite unfurled.

Lucy used a triangular container and created the first design.

Emily

Hello all,

I run my regular classes on the first and third Wednesday of each month. On some months, such as August this year, there were 5 Wednesdays all told, which meant that there were two weeks free of classes. This is an explanation for the absence of students' works in this and the previous posts. At such times I have to work a little harder to produce enough material for the blog on my own.

In the above arrangement I used a structure that I had created in the past and which I enlarged by adding more pieces to it.The material is the New Zealand flax flower spike, which, when dry is light and, generally, straight, making it quite easy to work with. I was able to suspend the structure without it resting on the table because it is so light.The strelitzia reginae added more drama to the piece and, in contrast, the nandina domestica nana added softness.

I had removed the dry seed pods in order to use the straight stems but could not discard them. I made a small arrangement with them and two of my tulips.

When the camellias died, I removed them and reworked the arrangement, adding arum lilies instead.

Hello all,

I was supposed to be writing this blog on the balcony or by the pool of a luxury hotel in Port Douglas but Covid put paid to that.(Insert strong expletives here!). Two days before we were due to fly north Sam tested positive. He spent the intervening days strictly isolating in his office and me dancing attention, providing all his needs. It was a valiant effort by both of us but, I guess, it was inevitable that I would catch it too. This morning I tested positive. (More expletives!) So, instead of balmy tropical weather we're coping with wet and miserable Melbourne. This is not an attempt to elicit sympathy. I know that many of you have had to deal with Covid, I just wanted to vent.

After the winter months of a serious dearth of flowers in the garden, my bulbs have exploded into flower and I have dozens and dozens of narcissus, a few tulips, arum lilies and hyacinths. Because I grow these bulbs in pots, I remove them when the leaves have died down and store them until next autumn, when I plant them out again. This makes the bulbs strong and I get big, healthy flowers and leaves.

In the arrangement, above, I felt that the white of the containers and the kiwi vine was a perfect foil for the deep blue of the hyacinths.

I know that some people dislike the smell of narcissus but Sam and I love it. I placed the arrangement, below, on the kitchen island bench and every time I walk past it I am assailed by the strong fragrance. You may be interested to know that I wired the leaves to be able to curve them in such a way.

For this month's Masterclass I provided all the participants with the same materials - one, large strelitzia Nicolai leaf, two New Zealand flax leaves, a stem of Siberian dogwood and one protea flower. They could use any or all of the materials and they could choose their own containers.

The arrangement, above was done by Jenny Loo. She used three of the four materials in a heavy container with a split down the middle.

Lucy Papas used only two of her materials - a New Zealand flax which she cut and placed into two, ceramic, triangular containers, giving the illusion of continuity. She, also, used a small piece of the Strelitzia Nicolai leaf, which she feathered out and placed it tightly in the opening of the front container.

Christine Denmead used all but the Strelitzia Nicolai leaf. She used a ceramic container into which she placed the split New Zealand flax leaves and protea. She, also, used the dogwood branch upside down.

Emily

Hello all,

My Japanese flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) is always late to flower. Driving around my neighbourhood I see many vibrantly coloured shrubs in other people's gardens but not in mine. I was visiting my elderly aunt and uncle last week and asked if I could have some cuttings from their shrub. I couldn't wait to come home an arrange them. White camellias seemed the most obvious choice for accompanying material. I managed to make three arrangements, which require no explanation.

This arrangement appeals to me so much that it gives me goosebumps

At our last class Shaneen's arrangement was 'You in Ikebana' and she chose materials that she grows in abundance and of which she is particularly fond - papyrus and billbergia saundersii flowers'

Dianne used Garya Eliptica, with its pendulous catkins and leucadendrons in a ceramic container with many openings.

I had a rather large branch of black pine (Pinus thunbergii), some of which I used in an arrangement in my previous post. I still had a large piece left and couldn't bear to let it go to waste. So I trimmed and trimmed and trimmed and it still looks very full. But my hands were sore from the prickly needles and I got tired in the end and stopped. I used with it the last of my hydrangeas in a heavy ceramic container.

Emily

Hello all,

For last week's class I set the theme for the advanced students of 'A  Simplified Arrangement'. This exercise is a lot more nuanced than it, at first, appears. The aim is to trim the material that's being used to the point that only the bare elements are left, necessary for the material to be recognisable. 

The tomarilo branch below, was my starting point for the arrangement, above. I removed everything except one fruit and one leaf. The choice of container is also very important, as it is another element of the arrangement. This, wine coloured glass vase seemed ideal.

I'd like to point out that there is a subtle difference between a 'Simple' and a 'Simplified' arrangement. A 'Simplified' arrangement is created by the arranger by simplifying the material, as I explained, above. A 'simple' arrangement can be made with any material and may require little intervention. The example below is of a simple arrangement. I found the aeonium broken and fallen on the ground. I did nothing to it except work out the mechanics needed for it to sit on the container. And, just to put you minds at ease, there are roots where the stem was resting on the ground, which are now in the container. I used wire to secure it in place.

After a discussion in class and my explanation of the theme, the students had to rethink what they had planned to make and in the process made some really beautiful work.

Jenny used a single, yellow banksia, on the stem of which she left only one leaf. The matching, ceramic container was an appropriate choice.

Nicole used an interestingly shaped stem of nandina domestica with only one leaf left on it and a small jonquil, from which she removed all but one of the individual flowers. She, also, chose her container well.

Hello all,

As I was removing dead leaves from a large strelitzia reginae clump. I noticed the flower, above, that was about to burst out of its sheath. It's my favourite of all of its stages. I stopped my pruning, cut the flower and walked around the garden, looking for accompanying material. I settled on the agave but I had to  find just the right shape. More searching through the three different clumps of very thorny agaves until I found the one that pleased me most. My haste was due to the fact that the flower was threatening to open at any minute and I wanted to photograph it before it did. As it turned out, it wan't until the next day that it flowered fully. The arrangement still looks great, more than a week later.

At our Ikebana International meeting we were asked to make arrangements using unusual materials. My garden is a little bit bare this time of year but my haemanthus lily leaves, which are growing in a pot, are doing very well so I cut a couple and played with them. The peacock feathers were recently given to me by my student, Maren Buckett, who is decluttering. The bamboo container, apart from being aesthetically appropriate, served as a support for the heavy leaf, which could not be held up by the kenzan alone. 

I cut a side branch and looked at it. The correct way to place pine in an arrangement is with the pine needles pointing up, the way it grows in nature. See placement, below....

.....but I really liked and wanted to feature the tufts of pine needles face on. They look like some alien creature. I snuck  in a Brushfield's Yellow camellia below the branch with some camellia buds to the back, sadly not visible here. The container is some kind of reconstituted stone and, because of its curved shape, is surprisingly stable and is able to hold the heavy branch, whereas other shaped containers of similar size, would not.

To the uninitiated, the simple arrangement, below, looks easy to make. Not so. Firstly, an inordinate amount of time is spent in scouring the tree for just the right shaped branches. Then, some judicial trimming has to take place and, lastly, the right size, shape and colour container must be chosen. Then one hopes that the branches will sit in the container as one had envisaged. If not, mechanics have to be employed. And don't even get me started on the pesky leaves that often face the wrong way. Camellias are stunningly beautiful but require years of experience to handle them properly.

My daughter-in-law, Jeannine, very kindly brought me some long, cumquat branches from her parent's place. I knew she was bringing them but I was expecting there would be a lot more fruit on them, as I wanted to use them in a mass. However, the fruit were quite sparse, necessitating a change of plans. I stripped off all the leaves and left only the fruit. I then had to chose the container, taking into account the length and lightness of my material. At the back of the bottom shelf of containers I had these two glass vases, which have holes on the top half. I placed the branches through the holes and added a couple of Kamo Hon Ami camellias, but, unfortunately, in the photo we lose the space between the vases, in which the tall camellia sits comfortably.

Mary's revision lesson this week was 'An Arrangement in Two or More Containers'. She used New Zealand flax leaves split in half and lisianthus in two, triangular suibans.

And now, I hope you will indulge a doting grandmother showing off her amazingly talented grandson. At today's school athletics competitions Xavier brought home 5 ribbons - 3 firsts, 1 second and 1 third. So proud!

Emily

Hello all,

Last Saturday Vernisher Wooh came down from Brisbane to run workshops for our Sogetsu group. Vernisher is the 7th recipient of the Norman and Mary Sparnon Endowment scholarship, which provided for her to spend three months in Tokyo in 2019, studying at Headquarters.

Vernisher started the day by sharing with us photographs and experiences of her stay in Japan, which I found particularly interesting as it reminded me of my own experiences there.

We, then, moved to our first theme, which was 'Using Only One Kind of Material'. I chose one of my favourite winter materials - Prunus Mume, Japanese flowering apricot. I chose large branches with tight buds and a couple of smaller ones with fully opened blossoms, which I placed towards the centre of the structure. The arrangement was 'In a Suiban Without a Kenzan'.

The second theme was 'A Winter Arrangement'. For my arrangement, at the top of this post, I used my other, two favourite materials - Garrya Elliptica and Kamo Hon Ami camellia. The ceramic container is one I made decades ago and is, also, a favourite. 

For class last Wednesday I provided the advanced students with branches of my Prunus Mume as an opportunity to workshop this material, which they may not have used before.

Vicky used a number of small white containers into which she placed a number of different sized branches and refrained from adding any other material. A good example of 'Using Only One Kind of Material'.

Bredenia wanted to revise the lesson 'In a Suiban Without a Kenzan'. Along with the blossom branches, she used red dogwood (Cornus Siberian Alba), and a single arum lily.

Mary's theme was 'Curved and Straight Lines'. She used Siberian dogwood (Cornus Siberica Alba) for the curved lines and bamboo for the straight. For the flowers she used mauve coloured stock. 

Emily

Hello all,

I, absolutely, love this red camellia. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out its name. Apart from the perfection of the flowers, I love its pendulous form. The arrangement, above, is an example of using one kind of material. I confess, this material makes the exercise easy.

In my travels this morning, I came across an early flowering cootamundra wattle and brought a small amount home. I also had a few small plants of amaranthus, which had self seeded and which Sam removed when he was clearing the vegetable patch. I couldn't let them go to waste. So, I put them together in a brightly coloured ceramic vase.

This inspired me to make an arrangement using these two, rather disparate materials.

I've been watching my garrya elliptica for some weeks now, waiting for the catkins to be long enough to be suitable for ikebana. The wall arrangement is ideal for this, as it provides the height from which the material can hang as low as it needs to. The delicate catkins are quite lovely but they are rather dull in colour, hence the brightly coloured camellias.

As I wrote the date at the top of this post, I noticed that it is the 4th of July and, therefore, American Independence Day. I would like to wish my American readers a very happy 4th of July.

Bye for now,

Emily

A couple of weeks ago I came across a clump of green goddess lilies, which were bigger than any I'd ever seen before. They grow close to a creek, which explains their size but I had difficulty reaching them because the ground is boggy and overgrown with vegetation. It necessitated a subsequent visit, armed with my extendable cutter and gum boots, to reach the flowers. 

Then, at home, I was faced the challenge of arranging such large flowers. In the arrangement, above, I made the wisteria structure large enough as a balance against the size of the lily.

In the arrangement, below, I partially obscured the large flowers with a cascading 'curtain' of cotoneaster branches, laden with berries and the leaves removed.

I mentioned in a recent post the virtual exhibition of Ikebana International, Mumbai Chapter. The next two arrangements were my contribution to the exhibition.

Mahonia branches with flowers and white and gold chrysanthemums in ceramic vase

Fig branches and agapanthus in ceramic container

.....then I tried a different placement.

Hello all,

The second demonstration was very well attended and, again, my aim was to give the audience an idea of the variety of styles in Sogetsu Ikebana. In the first demo I was assisted by Vicky and in the second by Lucy. They are both experienced ikebanists and excellent assistants. I've always had one or the other helping when I've demonstrated and I don't think I could manage without them.

In my arrangement, above, I placed the orange, metal material around the ceramic container - An example of 'Using Fresh and Unconventional Material'. The pomegranates would have been too heavy for the ceramic container if they were not counterbalanced by the metal piece. I kept the alstroemeria psittacina leaves quite low so as not to obstruct the line of the metal piece.

The next arrangement is a typically winter one. The magnolia branch is bare but alive, requiring water. The Kamo-honnami camellias were the very first to flower and I was keen to use them. I would have liked to have had at least one more so that they would not be an even four but that's all I had. The container is a self made ceramic one.

 Bye for now,

Emily

Hello all,

For today's Masterclass I provided the participants with a number of agapanthus stems with the flower heads cut off. I also gave them a variety of accompanying materials and allowed them to choose a container. I asked them to make the agapanthus stems the dominant part of their arrangement.

The arrangement, above, is my example of the exercise. I wired the stems at the bottom and, again, at the very top to keep them in place. Then I added the stem of Kamo-honnami camellia through the structure.

Akemi used her stems out of water, which is fine because they can last quite a while without water. She also used a large loquat branch and some agapanthus flowerheads, clustered in the centre of her structure. The container she used, except for the colour, is the same as the one I used. They are very useful because their curved shape adds stability, which other containers of similar size would not have.

So, for Vicky's arrangement I looked up the thesaurus for a synonym to 'dynamic' but, amongst the many words, I could find none that were accurate. So, I'm back to dynamic. She used the Siberian dogwood stems around the agapanthus stems, which she clustered together, creating a much stronger line. The hakea flowers, stripped of their leaves, added colour and form.

Bye for now,

Emily