SOME SUMMER FLOWERS

 

Recently I came across this mass of succulents spilling over on to the edge of a footpath from a front garden. My attention was caught by the repeating shapes of different sizes among the rosettes of leaves. The apparently never ending patterns in growing plants is extraordinary and inspires a sense of joy and wonder in me. Reflecting on this reminds me of seeing models of plant and shell-like forms created by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi that reveal their fractal geometry. I think my favourite botanical example of such natural form has to be the Romanesco broccoli.

I first saw this extraordinary vegetable in a market in Naples ten years ago and could not resist taking a photograph.

In the garden yesterday...

 

...I noticed that the Crassula aborescens, which is growing in the shade of the apricot tree, had developed some flower stems that were growing almost horizontally in their search for light. This meant that in my ikebana I could achieve a slanting line without trying the impossible task of creating a curve in these stems, which are not flexible. Also, the flowers would be at the angle at which they have grown.

 

The angle of the stems gave me the opportunity to use this unusual vessel by the Victorian ceramic artist Paul Davis, which features his thick white glaze. Paul has evolved this glaze and clay body over the period since he studied for five years with the potter Saka Koraizaemon XII in Hagi, Japan. I am including this closeup to show the thickness of the glaze and its lustrous crackled surface.

The vessel is heavy and ideal for a slanting ikebana, although with this material the weight was not necessary. Because of the inflexibility of the stems I have inserted a vertical bamboo skewer in each of the slanting stems to stop them from lifting out of the vessel. The unusual curving line on the smaller stem was the result of it growing through the wire mesh of our side fence.

The material for my second ikebana is Hydrangea. In the photo above the flowering branches from two different pots have spread into each other. The deeper pink on the left came from the garden of Laurie's family home and the pale pink from our friends Rosemary and David. It is so good for a garden to contain the hidden stories of friendships.

  

This is another vessel by Paul Davis. It has the form of two conjoined cylinders that gently broaden from the base. I have used two pale pink Hydrangeas and placed one of the slightly darker pink ones at the back of the ikebana. A stem of variegated Miscanthus 'Zebrinus', which has started to dry provides some sinuous lines that contrast with the mass of the Hydrangeas. The ikebana shows two different aspects of summer: the lush growth in a well-watered garden and the drying effects of summer heat in Australia.

Greetings from Christopher

29th January 2023