AUTUMNAL HYDRANGEAS

This week I had a class with my Melbourne students for the first time in five weeks. The most noticeable change since we were last in the city was the seasonal shift into autumn. The gutters in the streets around the Botanic Gardens were full of fallen leaves from the many Plane Platanus x acerfolia and English Elm Ulmus minor 'Atinia', trees in the area. Autumn colour was also apparent in the first two ikebana arrangements below. I had set these students the exercise of making a single ikebana work in two non-matching vases.

Marcia used a white-glazed ceramic bottle and black ikebana vase. Her materials were Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia, and Haemanthus coccineus in the black vase. There is also a small group of Pomegranate Punica granatum leaves which connect to the two fruit-bearing stems of Pomegranate which are in the white vase.

Eugenia also used black and white vases. The one at the back is made like a bottle-shaped ceramic net and is lying on its side. The materials are Grape vine Vitus, and white flowering Cane begonia.

Marisha's exercise was to make an ikebana that expresses herself. She has re-used two long-lasting leaves (Bird's nest fern?) and imagined this ikebana as an offering on the alter of the Temple that she attends. 

Jacqueline's exercise was " Focusing on the uses of water" Here she set a single stem of Asparagus fern A. setaceus, and a small cluster of pink Chrysanthemums. The ikebana is in a clear glass dish which is placed on a larger white plate so that when it is placed on a wooden surface the woodgrain does not overwhelm the ikebana.

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Because of the nature of our climate, and the characteristics of the soil, our garden is mostly populated by trees and shrubs that are Australian native species. However, to provide variety for my ikebana, I do grow a number of exotic plants - some of which are in pots. A month ago the Golden Rod was fully out and the ornamental grape vine was at its best. Now they are looking feeble. They are among the few plants in our garden that show the seasonal shift that is characteristic of northern hemisphere autumn colours. However when we returned to Torquay last weekend the autumn colour in the Hydrangeas had really intensified. 

I showed this photo of one of the potted Hydrangeas early in March. It is now a deep red with a somewhat velvety surface. I decided to use it in my ikebana before it is damaged by rain. The colour and the mass of the flower heads left me struggling for a while over what other material to use as well.

A stroll around the garden brought me to the slowly growing Strelitzia nicolai, given to me by another ikebana friend Emily Karanikolopoulos. Aha! a suitable contrast for the Hydrangea that can match its volume.

I chose an irregularly dome-shaped vase with a greyish glaze for the ikebana. After setting the flowers in a mass and line design, I added a single new leaf from the base of the Strelitzia in order to provide a balancing line as well as a smooth green surface behind the Hydrangeas.

After I had photographed the ikebana I placed it in the niche in the living room. In doing so I noticed again some of the smaller, beautifully-coloured leaves in the middle of the ikebana that are visible when it is seen from a little to the right side. This reminded me of my teacher, Carlyne Patterson's, observation that an an ikebana arrangement should not show itself all at once. There should be a little mystery to be discovered. Which, of course, is why we should not confuse a beautiful photograph of an ikebana with the experience of the living thing itself experienced in a physical space and in real time.

The vase is by the Victorian ceramic artist Owen Rye.

Greetings from Christopher

23rd April 2023