PINK AND YELLOW

  

Last week, when we had a walk in Iron Bark Basin. I checked to see how the Xanthorrhoea was developing.

I was pleased to see that the north facing side of the spike was almost completely covered with open flowers.

 As you can see from this photograph it has attracted a number of bees as well as some butterflies. 

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On Monday, my student Eugenia sent me this photo of  her recent ikebana. She reported that the inspiration came from the pruned remains of a Garrya elliptica, that died. She challenged herself to use her favourite piece of pottery, which is a beautiful but difficult vessel, being a cube shape with deep openings on each side and an open top. She chose banksia and a dried stem of the Garrya as their strength and colours complement the form and tones of the vessel. These were contrasted by the feathery appearance of the Nandina domestica. I particularly like the boldness of the design with the strength of the vessel.

Over recent weeks I have been watching the seasonal progress of a wild Tamarix tetranda, as its flowers form. When the buds are still tight they are a deep maroon, which suddenly becomes a pale pink on opening. I wanted to use some of this material for an ikebana in the brief period of its flowering.

This close up shows both the deep colour of the buds and the lighter pink of the open flowers.

The first time that I used this plant in an ikebana I deliberately picked the branches before the flowers had opened. I made this one-material ikebana some years ago because of the colour match with the then recently-acquired vessel by Graeme Wilkie. The vertical lines of the branch material complement the surface of the vessel which is ridged with strong horizontal lines.

This year I wanted to contrast the pale pink with the bright yellow of the Forsythia intermedia from our garden; a gift from my former work colleague, Shirley.

I have arranged the spreading branches of the Tamarix in an irregularly-shaped black ceramic vessel. The materials include Forsythia, Lady Banks rose, Rosa Banksiae, and an intense pink geranium placed at the back. The flattening effect of the photograph and evenness of the lighting obscure the fact that the Banksia rose at the mouth of the vessel actually extends well forward. Because the vessel is narrow front to back it is important to place materials extending forward and to the rear, otherwise the arrangement will be flat and fan-shaped. 

Greetings from Christopher

4th October 2020