PINCUSHION HAKEA

The subject of my ikebana today is from a small tree that is endemic to Western Australia, Hakea laurina. It is a very tough plant and is used as a garden ornamental in other states of Australia, as well as overseas. I have vivid memories of this Hakea growing in the play-ground when I was in primary school. Its most distinctive aspect is its red globular flower. The flowers have yellow pistols that extend beyond the red globe of the flower. Hence the common name 'Pincushion Hakea'. It can grow into a small tree of 3 - 5 metres. 

This specimen is about 3 metres tall and has had lower branches removed so that it has developed a single trunk.

When the flowers start to form from the bud the yellow pistols curve back into the flower. I have observed this characteristic in Banksias and Grevilleas which are in the same family, Proteaceae. In this photo you can see that the lance-shaped leaves are flat and have a dull surface. They are also quite firm and have a leathery feel. 

Here is a close-up of a fully opened flower. To my child's eyes it looked like a bomb burst or a firework exploding. Above this flower is one that is still developing and which is not in sharp focus.

The seed pod is like a very woody nut and often in small clusters. 

This one has opened and ejected its seed. I have always been fascinated by the very flat surfaces when these seed split open. They are so smooth they almost look like they have been polished.

Here is today's ikebana on the Sogetsu curriculum theme: Using only one kind of material. In spite of the fact that the leaves are fairly stiff, they actually have created a strong sense of flowing movement to the ikebana. Below is the arrangement in the niche in the living room.

I was especially interested in contrasting the red of the flowers against the turquoise glaze of this modern ikebana vessel. In this final version I have added an extra flower in the group at the front. 

The 'modern' ikebana vessel would have been made in the 1960s as there is a photo of one of the same design used by Norman Sparnon in his book: 'The Magic of Camelias' (page 134-5) that was published in 1968 *. The photo above was across a double page spread in the book. When scanned it resulted in the dark line through the middle of the image.

I acquired my vessel from one of Norman Sparnon's students, now a senior member of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. 

  

Greetings from Christopher
25th April 2020

* 'The Magic of Camelias'.  Ure Smith Pty. Ltd. Sydney 1968

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Early last summer we planted some new Correa bushes in an area of the garden that had become rather bare as older plants reached the end of their natural lives. These Correas are fairly small shrubs and make good ground covers under the partial shade of some larger trees. Although most of these are cultivars we are happy to have the new additions to our garden which also has indigenous Correas which are not bothered by our hydrophobic sandy soil.

The following photos show first the rather small bush, then the dainty bell-shaped flower belonging to that bush.

  

The protruding stamens from this flower create a colour contrast to the pink of the flower.

This bush has been planted by the garden path where it is filling in an empty space left by an earlier shrub.

The more open flower on this bush is the most open of the new plants and is less pendulous that the others, allowing the centre of the flower to be seen. 

  

As you can see with this orangey-coloured flower, the inner side of the petals are much lighter.

The same is true of this pale pink flower...

...which also has reflected tips to the petals.

Now to ikebana. A month ago the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School held what has turned out to be the last meeting prior to the regulations against gatherings of people in groups. The theme of the meeting was the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of making ikebana 'Taking into account the shape of the vessel'. 

Unfortunately our presenter Aileen was unable to attend the meeting and, at short notice, I had to do the demonstration. I was able to show photos of two examples that Aileen had prepared in advance which are on the Victorian Branch website, (16th March 2020).

My thinking about this was that the two most obvious options would be to contrast the ikebana with the shape of the vessel or to complement the shape of the vessel.

In my first demonstration example I have contrasted the round shape of the vessel with a geometric design of straight lines made with agapanthus stems. I used the spent flowers with seeds removed to create a focal point in the work. Using just green material has also contrasted strongly with the black of the vessel.

In my second demonstration I have complemented the strong curving lines of this unusual vessel. The banana and passion fruit emphasise the vessel by make curving lines that move in the opposite direction. I had actually tried to make the two dietes leaves curve the same way as the banana. However, they would not cooperate so I quickly changed my plan and followed the curve of the vessel.

I was particularly interested to see the ikebana by Akemi Suzuki, above. She took a different approach. She used a round red glass vessel with a closed top and a hole in the side. She arranged her materials to appear to be issuing out from the side of the vessel. This is yet another way of interpreting the theme: 'Taking into account the shape of the vessel"

Greetings from Christopher
19th April 2020

AUTUMN PINK

During the last couple of weeks we have had some days that were quite warm and dry. I have taken advantage of the weather to repaint the garden bench and the table on the terrace. Yesterday, I managed to paint a small deck at the back door before the rain that arrived overnight.

On one of the warmer mornings Laurie and I had a walk on the beach before breakfast. I took this photo of a rock pool in a cave that passes right through a large rock at the end of the beach. The water from the previous high tide was still dripping from the roof of the cave.

In the garden a Japanese Windflower anemone huphensis has flowered for the first time. It was a given to me by Margaret L., an ikebana colleague. The flower is very small probably because the soil is so poor and I planted it in the shade to protect it from the summer sun. 

None the less, it looks charming like its common name.

One of the last Lorraine Lee roses to escape the ravages of the possums this year has just opened. Its survival can be attributed to being on the end of a long thin branch that could not support the weight of a possum. And the Albertine rose, which is being buried by a pandorea pandorana vine, has produced an out of season autumn flower. 

I decided to use these flowers in a small arrangement on the dining table because their fragrance is so beautiful. By placing the small black egg-shaped vessel on a larger celadon platter, the soft pinks had a more suitable background than the wooden table surface. For the purpose of the photograph I have put a white card underneath the platter. 

The Hydrangeas, which I have to grow in pots, have started to take on their autumn colouring. This one, above, has a large pink flower when it first comes out it then slowly goes green and then develops autumnal colouring. Last week I used one of the unexpectedly-late-forming fresh pink flower-heads with some of the fading flowers. Today I picked the last of the fresh pink flower-heads and arranged it with the blue-grey foliage of the Cootamundra Wattle Acacia baileyana. 

I have created a horizontal ikebana with these materials in a large slab-construction vessel made with soft-pink marbled clay. The ikebana is dedicated to the memory of Doreen Schofield, a Sogetsu practitioner who studied with Norman Sparnon in the early days of his teaching in Melbourne. Doreen was an active member of Ikebana International Melbourne for 55 years and a committee member for 39 of those years. She donated many of her ikebana vessels to Ikebana International and the one shown was from her collection. The vessel was made by the New Zealand ceramicist Keith Blight.

Greetings from Christopher
11th April 2020

FRESH AND FADING FLOWERS

While we were having a mid-morning cup of tea today we were visited by a pair of Crimson rosellas. 

They came into the garden to feed on the seeds of the Rosemary Salvia rosemarinus bushes.

These are adults, the plumage of juvenile birds is mostly green.

It was warm and sunny a couple of days ago, so we took our daily walk in the Ironbark Nature Reserve.

This view through the trees is on elevated ground and in the distance the sea is visible.

Further along the path, the conspicuous headland of Point Addis, about two kilometres away, was bathed in sunlight.

I was curious to see what wild flowers would be out as we are now into autumn.

This is a small patch of Common Heath Epacris impressa, the floral emblem of Victoria state. It can be anything from white through to a rich red. 

Nearby was another bell-shaped flower, Correa reflexa. Correas are a favourite indigenous plant and we have a number in our garden.

Above is a particularly healthy looking bush in full flower that was beside the path. 

In these days of physical distancing and our government's instruction to 'Stay at home' I have noticed that many ikebanists have taken to sharing their passion for ikebana and the botanical world on-line. I can only approve, having started my weekly blogging 9 years ago when I was in Tokyo as the third recipient of the Norman and Mary Sparnon Endowment scholarship.

In recent days I was pleased to receive these photos from two of my students.

Eugenia took this photo of a Dahlia beginning to open...

...... and here it is fully opened three days later. What rich colour.

Marisha created this freestyle slanting arrangement with garden 'prunings'.

In the garden at Torquay I had noticed a couple of late-forming pink Hydrangea flowers; and was pleased that the first came into full bloom before the onset of colder weather. On another bush, the old flowers had started to develop autumnal colour. I decided to use both in one ikebana because of the interesting contrast between the new and fading flowers. When I picked two of the old flowers I also noticed the leaves colouring beautifully. 

I arranged the two fading flowers with the fresh pink one and a twisting Moonah Melaleuca lanceolata branch in a tall woodfired ceramic vase by Graeme Wilkie.

I was somewhat frustrated and dissatisfied with the result. It took a little while to realise my mistake. My original intention had been subverted because I was distracted by the beauty of the leaves. They were not the intended subject and the contrast between the two stages of the flowers had been diminished.
  

This is the second working of the materials. I think this ikebana is more harmonious and stronger. The contrast between the two stages of the flowers is much clearer.

Because I placed the ikebana in the niche in the living room it is seen through a wide angle. I have rotated the vase to show this view from the righthand side, which is usually the first view of the ikebana. The fresh new flower becomes the principal subject and the autumnal colouring of the other two flowers is revealed slowly. Usually, I think that to be successful ikebana should have only one principal subject, idea or focus.

My good wishes go especially to the members of the Wellington Branch in New Zealand where I would have been today had our circumstances not been changed by the Covid-19 virus.

Greetings from Christopher
4th April 2020