ARUM LILIES - LINES and SURFACES

* Note to Ursula B. at the bottom

A month ago, in mid August, we had some early warm weather.

The Torquay surf beach looked like this. 

This 'zoomed' photo shows the far end of the surf beach with the cliffs of Jan Juc towering beyond them.

A month earlier, in mid-July, Laurie and I had a walk in Iron Bark Basin on a sunny day after some rain. The understory vegetation has been cleared on either side of the walking track as a bushfire management strategy. As it was the beginning of the change of season, winter to spring, I was on the lookout for a Grass Tree, Xanthorrhoea australis with a developing inflorescence. I have often thought about recording its growth.

 

This photo was taken on the 8th July and the inflorescence was  already about 45 cms from its base.

Last week, on 16th September, the inflorescence had reached about 2 metres and was just starting to flower.

This close up shows the masses of flowers on the more advanced inflorescence of a nearby plant.  Of course it is not legal to collect wild flowers in nature reserves and this is much too large for anything other than an exhibition installation.

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This week I have been watching the development of some Arum lilies, which I find quite beautiful for a couple of reasons. The first is the graceful lines of the stems and the form of the flowers that enchanted the artists of the Art Nouveau movement. The second is the glossy surface beauty of the leaves which contrasts with the matte surface of the complex, three- dimensional whiplash curves of the flower spathe.

In this first ikebana I have focused on the lines of the stems, gently exaggerating the curves with my hands to create a parallel space between them. The asymmetrically placed leaf provides a contrasting mass. The black ceramic vessel is from Seto City in Japan.

In this second ikebana I wanted to focus on the surfaces of the Arum lily.

I have set three large leaves one above the other in a forward movement. Two fully opened flowers are placed below and behind the mass of the parallel leaves. The leaves and the sinuous lines of their edges are the principal subject. The ceramic bowl is by the Melbourne based ceramic artist Isabel Wang.

Greetings from Christopher

19th September 2020

After publishing my post last week I realised that I had not acknowledged the source of information about the use of vinegar in the conditioning of cut plant materials. It came from an out-of-print booklet, "Post-harvest care of cut flowers" prepared by Dr R Jones, Institute of Plant Sciences, Knoxfield Campus, Victoria, prepared for the horticultural industry. 

* For Ursula in Cairns: The Blogger system protects your privacy and I am unable to contact you. I would suggest you contact the Sogetsu Queensland Branch at the following address:

https://ikebanabrisbane.org.au