SOME AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS

Australia is blessed with many very unusual looking plants that make excellent material for ikebana. Most of the continent has low rainfall and many of our native plants have specific adaptations for such dryness. Perhaps the most obvious are the plants with tough leaves that do not wilt. One particularly striking plant is Eucalyptus Macrocarpa, indigenous to the south west of Western Australia. 

I first came across it in its native habitat in 2014 when Laurie and I drove across the country. This photo was taken at the side of the road near Albany on the south coast.

On another visit to the west I saw this example in the Botanic Gardens at Kings Park in Perth, with a large fully-opened flower on a fairly stiff stem. The leaves and stems are covered in a light grey downy powder giving the plant a silvery appearance. For these reasons and its longevity in a vase E. macrocarpa is  grown for the floristry market.

My student Ellie recently used a single stem of E. macrocarpa with unopened buds to make this arrangement. She has added the dry stem of another species of eucalyptus to create a space and a sense of movement that complements the fresh material.

Ellie told me of her frustration when, in the process of arranging, some of the flower buds dropped off the branch.

Creatively turning this situation into a positive one, Ellie arranged the buds in a glass vase. The four buds are arranged asymmetrically and one is carefully anchored to show its profile. She has also taken care to create space in the ikebana. Under water the powdery surface of the material has developed a silvery sheen.

In our garden another Australian native Acacia baileyana, which I used in my ikebana last week, is at its most prolific flowering. 

During the week I was removing a struggling helebore when I noticed that the semi-prostrate A. baileyana was also starting to flower. This plant is always a little slower to flower than the tree form. In the photo the semi-prostrate plant is in front of the Strelitzia Juncea, the straight stems of which are seen protruding behind. Behind them is the A. baileyana tree form.

I had wanted to use the acacia again as it is such a cheerful sight on a wintery day.

I used two long stems of branch material which also have a blue grey appearance, akin to the E. macrocarpa. These stretch to the right while a mass of blossom reaches forward and to the left among a structure of red painted sticks. I have deliberately chosen this shino-glazed vase by the Canadian potter Don Goddard, because of the bluish grey that complements the leaf colour.

Greetings from Christopher

26th July 2020