Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed flowers forming on the newly planted Senna artemisioides. It is native to Western Australia and areas of the centre of Australia. It is said to be wide-spread across the continent. However, it is another plant that I have not seen before, at least not in a suburban garden.
The flowers remind me of the highly fragrant Brown Boronia boronia megastigma. Both plants have small bell-like flowers, although Senna artemisioides seems to have five petals against four in Boronia.
This plant was given to me by my ikebana friend, Trish, along with the 'Drumstick' flower, Isopogon cuneatus that I reported on three weeks ago. I am pleased to observe that it has started flowering about a month ahead of the acacia baileyana that grows along the garden path. I wonder whether this will become a seasonal pattern.
We have just entered winter, with the autumn being declared the driest on record in many places. It certainly seems so in our garden.
Last weekend the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School welcomed Mr Yoshiro Umemura on his annual visit from Sydney to give workshops to our members. Mr Umemura is the most senior and experienced Sogetsu teacher in Australia. He studied Sogetsu ikebana in Japan and subsequently worked for many years alongside Norman Sparnon in Australia.
The theme of his first workshop was to create an arrangement in which a triangle, circle and square are incorporated.
These geometric symbols were used in ink brush painting by the 18th century Zen Buddhist monk, Sengai. Their symbolic value includes that they can be read as a representation of the universe.
This is my work in which I have made triangles with coastal sword sedge, used five dried sunflower heads for their circular shape and arranged them in an almost square vase.
On the Australian Sogetsu Teachers Association, New South Wales Branch website there is a page showing an excellent example by Mr Umemura of this exercise. It is the sixth photo on that page.
The second workshop was to make an arrangement expressing an emotion.
The emotion I chose was calmness or serenity. I have placed a large branch of driftwood across a celadon-glazed platter and added some blue Dutch Iris, iris x hollandica. They are held in place by the driftwood so that no kenzan was necessary and the surface of the water remained clear.
More photos from the workshops are on the Victorian Branch website.
On Monday 4th June the Branch is setting up its annual exhibition at the Hawthorn Arts Centre. If you are in Melbourne please visit the exhibition; see the information below.
Greetings from Christopher
2nd June 2018.
Sogetsu School of Ikebana
Victorian Branch
Annual Exhibition
Tuesday 5th June to Wednesday 13th June
9.00 am - 5.00 pm Monday to Friday
11.00 am - 4.00 pm Saturday and Sunday
Foyer of the Hawthorn Arts Centre
360 Burwood Rd Hawthorn
Ikebana by Robyn Unglik
www.sogetsuikebana.weebly.com
victoriasogetsu@gmail.com
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