BUSHY YATE

   

Two weeks ago the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana had its first meeting for 2020 in a new, larger venue for our Monday meetings. 

The well-attended meeting workshop was led by Thea Sartori, a senior teacher of the Branch. The theme Thea chose for the workshop was 'a Summer arrangement' incorporating some 'found' material.

For my ikebana I used three blades of coast sword sedge lepidosperma gladiatum, and two very large sunflowers. The sunflowers are a new variety to me; their flowers looked like giant marigolds with no seeds visible in the centre. I used a contemporary-looking conical, stainless steel vase which suited the 'found' material. That was the metal mesh which I had also used in last week's ikebana. 

The mesh was 'rescued' when the range hood in our kitchen had to be replaced. It was some time ago, but I recognised its potential as 'unconventional' (man-made) ikebana material. Fortunately it packs flat making it much less bulky than other materials that '...might come in use one day...'.

Click here for photos from the February Sogetsu Branch meeting.

Last week I pruned our bushy yate Eucalyptus Lehmannii very hard as the possums were using it as a bridge to the roof and the pergola where they have been feasting on the new growth of the Lorraine Lee rose.

  

This example in a nearby park shows how a large healthy bushy yate can grow.

The green (kitchen mop-looking) flower shown above is from the same tree. All of the growth stages of the flowers of this tree have their own unique beauty and I had plenty that I could not allow to go to straight into the mulching machine. 

This week's ikebana is an example of the Sogetsu curriculum subject: 'deconstruction and rearranging materials'. After removing all the leaves I have placed two flowers in the Don Jones spherical vase that I showed in last week's posting.  On the right hand side are some unopened flower buds which have elongated caps (operculum) covering the stamens. I decided that two more should remain on the branch. The branch has been cut to stand when inverted and has four knobbly fruit that at this stage are glossy green and reddish brown. The old bark is peeling from the branch showing the creamy coloured new bark underneath.

Greetings from Christopher
1st March 2020.