MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER and GARDEN SHOW

On Wednesday last week the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show opened for its five days of exhibitions and demonstrations. In the gardens outside the Royal Exhibition Building there are many beautiful temporary gardens on display and a large variety of commercial businesses showing plants and garden related merchandise. This is how the grand Victorian building looks on a winters day.

In the Great Hall are a variety of displays that are more directly related to flowers. In the foreground of the picture below you can see people seated to watch a demonstration.

One of the displays I always enjoy is of mannequins dressed in 'clothes' made from botanical materials by students of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology design schools. In the picture below is a young student being photographed beside a mannequin wearing a dress the student made from leaves (dracena, I think) and a stunning cloak made from sliced oranges.

Members of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International created the exhibition below with Sogetsu, Ichiyo, Ikenobo, Ohara, and Shogetsudokoryu schools being represented. They created a unified feel by all using natural cane in their arrangements as well as red anthuriums and dark glossy green leaves.

It was difficult to photograph the individual arrangements. Here is the Ikenobo School work.

This is the Ohara School work, a bit complicated by the Ichiyo School work behind it.

Shogetsudokoryu School.

Ichiyo School. Photographed a little from the side.

The Sogetsu School work was a wall arrangement at the back of the display space that gave a good feeling of height.

The Sogetsu School was also represented by 'window' displays. Below is the work of Toula and Betty Karanikolopoulos, for which they received a Fourth Place.

Emily Karanikolopoulos created the work below using shaped bamboo. She was rewarded for her work with a First Place.

Her use of a small number of cyclamen provided a subtle focus in the work.

Greetings from Christopher

24th March 2013