BUSY IN THE GARDEN

The 'treated pine' timber planks of the retaining wall on the terrace had been leaning progressively forward in recent times. I decided they needed to be secured properly with "U-shaped" steel posts into which the ends could be slotted. In the process I found that the back of the planks had rotted significantly even though they looked intact from the front. So the job grew.

A fair amount of earth had to be removed and new timber planks purchased. This time I had the sense to line the back of the planks with heavy-duty black plastic designed for in-ground garden ponds. The process required cutting one of the metal posts in half with an angle grinder. Who would have thought that the sparks from the grinder could set one's trousers on fire! 

Laurie caught me unawares toward the end of the job. In a fresh pair of trousers! I am looking forward to reducing the size of the garden bed behind the retaining wall and laying some brick paving there, on which I might place some pot plants.

Some days earlier we walked along a section of 'footpath' where the adjacent house owner has planted a variety of acacias. I particularly like the one on the right hand side in the photo for its long tapering stems that are covered with blossom that is progressively smaller toward the tip of the branch.

Meanwhile, in our garden...,

the South African Daisy, Osteospermum, has produced its annual show of massed flowering. I am fairly sure when we bought the original pot all the flowers were purple. As this photo shows most have reverted to white.

Next to the daisy is a tall red flowering Callistemon. One flower is visible on the right side of the photo about half way up the shrub. Its flowering has just started and is what I needed for this week's ikebana.

Also required are some green lines. The Umbrella Sedge, Cyperus alternifolius, in the conservatory grows tall in its warm sheltered environment. The tallest stems are about two metres long, but a bit thin rather than robust.  

Last Monday we were to have a Sogetsu Victorian Branch meeting with a workshop led by Emily Karanikolopoulos. Emily had set a combined exercise which was to make an ikebana, which both took into account the shape of the vase and also took into account the colour of the vase. Each of these requirements are seperate exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. Because of our current lockdown restrictions, the workshop could not be held and it was decided to post photos on our website of ikebana made by members at home. This has yet to be achieved. However, I will provide a link when I am able.

I have used a rectangular, slab-built ceramic vessel with a green glaze. The Umbrella grass stems reference the shape of the vessel and the red Callistemon contrasts with its colour. I had to employ some mechanical support for the flower on the left to situate it within the space created by the Umbrella grass stems

Greetings from Christopher

29th August 2021