ROADSIDE IKEBANA
CROSSING LINES
UMBRELLA GRASS: CYPERUS ALTERNIFOLIUS
Last week I noticed that a number of stems of the umbrella grass Cyperus alternifolius in the conservatory were yellowing. I think from insufficient water. I have them growing in a small plastic pond which is filled with potting mix. In the recent warm days more evaporation had occurred than I had realised. I remedied the situation, adding extra water, and removed the dying stems.
This resulted in a fair number of stems that I could not allow to go into the compost without first serving sometime as an ikebana subject. I went to the vase shelves and realised that a pair of recently acquired tall narrow resin vases would provide a sufficient height. Being a pair meant that I could set them apart and use the space between the vases.
I secured a number of stems to a vertical fixture, then bent them to create narrow scalene triangular forms. These have been bunched together so that the long tapering points are directed toward the other vase. Four bright red geranium flower heads provide focal points in each vase.
Greetings from Christopher
26th January 2025
A SLANTING ARRANGEMENT of CROCOSMIA

MELALEUCA LANCEOLATA and VALERIANA RUBER
RED CORYMBIA FICIFOLIA
The corymbia in the garden has started to bloom again this summer. This particular one has bright red flowers. Others have pink, white or orange flowers.
MAKING SOMETHING OLD, NEW AND FRESH
The theme set by one of the students for the second-last Geelong class, was to make "a table arrangement without using flowers"; an interesting and slightly counter-intuitive theme given the lead up to Christmas time.
Maree's exercise was to make an ikebana "in a suiban without using a kenzan". She used three Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis branches and an unidentified branch with green leaves. A single large pink Hydrangea sat low within the suiban.
At the beginning of December I attended a Sogetsu meeting where the presenter set the theme with the following instruction: Find something old and make it fresh with your ikebana. Where to start? After thinking of many possibilities I remembered that in the bottom of the sideboard was a silver epergne. It is an art nouveau table-centre designed to hold flowers, that was a wedding present of my father's parents who were married in 1910.
In my childhood it occasionally held Geraniums. I remember them looking like a series of posies. Thanks to my ikebana lessons I now know that there are other possibilities. Ikebana has given me the knowledge that I do not have be limited by the vessel.
STRELITZIA NICOLAI
It is now serving as a Christmas decoration.
That is, as the supporting structure for displaying Christmas cards. It has become this year's substitute for a Christmas tree. Having been so busy over recent months with the preparations for the 60th anniversary of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School, many things are behind schedule. However, Laurie and I are looking forward to a more relaxing time over the summer months.
A couple of weeks ago, my student Christine, told me an inflorescence on her Strelitzia nicolai had started to open. As she was about to go away for the Christmas holidays she offered me the flowerhead. An offer which I happily accepted. The S. Nicolai in our garden is yet to flower and may still take some years.
The inflorescence has large blue-grey bracts, long white sepals and a bluish-purple "tongue". It grows on a short stem in among the very large leaves and is very heavy. I have only once before been able to use one of these flowerheads as an ikebana subject. That was back in 2003, when I attended a workshop presented by Master Instructor Tetsunori Kawana on the Queensland Gold Coast. My friend who lived there had the nerve to ask a nurseryman for one leaf and flower from a plant that I coveted, growing in the nursery.
This is the ikebana that I made at that workshop. The large leaf, which had autumn tones, curled and draped beautifully in front of the inflorescence.
This is my ikebana after critique by Mr Kawana. His comment was that with such a large and spectacular flower nothing else is necessary. Just careful placement in an appropriate vessel.
I now realise also that the leaf not so much competed with, but hid the beauty of the inflorescence. A very useful lesson.
When I took the inflorescence out of the box in which I carried it home, this above, was the first view I had. And it took my breath away. I was amazed at the geometry of the plant and the mass of white sepals at the centre of the three strong lines. I took this photo after I had removed some of the sepals as they were discolouring with age.
I then took a series of photos of the flower placed in various positions in a heavy ceramic vessel. I finally settled on two images.
This shows the inflorescence from above. The mass of white sepals and the geometry are revealed.
This view shows the basic structure of the inflorescence. The largest of the bracts reaches upward to the right. A second bract points toward the left rear. A third bract is less obvious in the photo. It is reaching forward to the right front. Between the three is the mass of white sepals and blue tongues. The visual mass of the inflorescence balances with the mass of the vessel.
The vessel is by the Victorian ceramicist Graeme Wilkie.
Christopher
22nd December 2024
SHOWING LINES AT THE BASE: USING TWO VESSELS
During the final term for this year of my Geelong class, I asked the senior students to choose the subject for each week's exercise. At the class on 28th of November the chosen theme was an Ikebana "Showing the lines at the base" and "Using two vessels".
"Showing Lines at the Base" is one of the Sogetsu curriculum exercises. This particular exercise has always made me think about the traditional rikka and seika styles which employ this characteristic. In those styles all the materials arise together from one point before spreading out. The Sogetsu exercise does not have the requirement that all the materials are grouped together. However, it does cause the ikebanist to focus on creating clean strong lines. Usually, it also leads to the creation of a high focal point in the Ikebana.
Helen placed her vessels one behind the other. The main lines are flower stems of New Zealand flax Phormium. The fine mass is one of the Corokia species, with small oval leaves. Helen has added a yellowing New Zealand flax leaf as a colour highlight in the middle of the mass.
Maureen used three flowering stems of Strelitzia reginae that curve toward each other creating an enclosed space. The fine leaves of a single Nandina stem creates a mass that surrounds the flowers. The right-hand stems are set in a black trough that sits on top of the suiban and runs toward the back; but it is very hard to see the trough against the dark background.
Christine stacked two suibans. The lower one is circular and the upper one almost circular with a small concave section on the right side. Her botanical materials are stems of Agapanthus in various stages from bud to opening flower.
Ellie used Grass tree Xanthorrhoea leaves, bundled tightly to create a single line at the base. She added Gerbera flowers as a focal contrast. The two vessels harmonise through their warm-coloured matte surfaces.