WINTER IN THE GARDEN

A few weeks ago I had an early morning walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria, Melbourne garden and was delighted to see that the various members of the narcissus family had begun to flower. 

This mass planting has been set around some of the playfully sculptured  branches, that I showed last Christmas, of the fallen White Oak, Quercus Alba. 

 

It is a great spot to see daffodils that have been planted under the trees on the Oak Lawn. I caught this Narcissus, King Alfred, beautifully illuminated by a shaft of sunlight. Its bright yellow was a joy to see on a cold winter's morning.

In our garden it is the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia Baileyana, that provides a mass of cheery gold in the middle of winter. This particular one is A. baileyana, prostrate form, which eventually develops a domed appearance when its branches start to grow taller, then arch over.

This photo shows a very flat, spreading patch of stems that have grown away from the main plant, passing underneath other bushes to find some brighter sunlight.

The red Flowering Quince on the side fence seems to have produced more flowers this year than last.

Usually the flowers are scattered along the stems and hard to photograph. This cluster has a much higher visual impact.

Last Thursday I was able to commence classes in Geelong for Term Three as the Covid density restrictions in the community facility class rooms permitted us to meet. It was a pleasure to get together after the six-week break since the end of Term Two.

At the class, Ellie's exercise was to make an ikebana in a tsubo vase (spherical shape with a large opening). She has used a horizontal crossbar which is one of the three fixing techniques for this type of vessel. Her branch material was beautifully fragrant cedar. (Some of you may know its name, possibly Calcedrus decurrens). Her flowers are yellow Chrysanthemum and a yellow form of Wax flower, Chamelaucium. 

 

Tess's exercise was to make an ikebana in response to a work of art, in which there should be a communication or dialogue between the ikebana and the art object. Tess has used bare branches and three Red Hot Poker, Kniphofia, flowers in a black ceramic vase. Her art works are two small bronze sculptures from China.

My ikebana this week uses the red Flowering Quince from the garden and some white Narcissus, from a friend's garden. After making the ikebana shown last week, which emphasised some curving lines, I had a spare straight branch. This branch had grown vertically with some short side branches radiating sideways and a very nice cluster of flowers that I did not want to waste. 

I suddenly had the inspiration to place it in an especially narrow trough-like vessel by Hiroe Swen. I have only used this vessel a couple of times, because it is far too narrow for any kenzan and requires ingenuity to fix any tall stems so that they don’t fall over. I laid the branch at a shallow angle using one of the side branches for additional support within the vessel. I then placed the narcissus parallel to the principal stem in two small masses with a space between them.

Here is the same ikebana from the right hand side, with the main line coming forward. As I placed it in the niche that I walk past into the kitchen it is necessary for both views to be satisfactory.

Greetings from Christopher

1st August 2021