YELLOW and PURPLE

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed the Clematis microphylla, coming into bloom along the paths among the sand dunes and cliff tops. It is a fairly vigorous climber and covers smaller bushes, making a creamy yellow canopy. In recent years it seems to be much more abundant. In my childhood it was not present. However where we now live, about 300 metres from my childhood home, is a suburb that was created in what had been grazing farmland. It was bare of all but grass. Prior to the development of farms, this part of Victoria had been open forest and grassland.

The Clematis is obviously a robust plant growing, as you can see on the cliff tops, where it is exposed to salty winds. 

This close-up was taken among part of the mass in the first photo. I have often wondered whether the current presence of this plant is a result of garden escapees or just a natural return of a plant that had disappeared when the land was cleared in the 19th century. We planted C microphylla on our fence some years ago and now it is self-seeding elsewhere in the garden.

The charming little flowers make an interesting subject for a cascading ikebana.

I have arranged two stems of the Clematis, having first removed almost all of the leaves. For textural contrast I added an Aspidistra leaf and a white 'Incurve' Chrysanthemum, as a focal point. The tall glass vase works especially well for such fine material as the Clematis.

This winter, when the Cootamundra wattle Acacia baileyana was at its peak, I missed the opportunity to use it in my ikebana. We were away for a week and then a period of persistent rain damaged much of the blossom.

However, the prostrate form, which we also have in the garden, is growing in the shelter of a large Angophora costata and some of the flowers were still good condition today. I decide to use it as the main material in a second ikebana as I had bought some purple Statice, Limonium sinatum a couple of days before. 

I have used the Acacia branches for the main lines of the ikebana and the Statice as a contrasting mass. This conforms to one of the Sogetsu curriculum exercises, being an ikebana using materials of contrasting colours; yellow and purple being on the opposite sides of the colour wheel. The intensification of the colours can occur with only a small amount of the contrast. The straight-sided ceramic ikebana vase is a deep blue.

Greetings from Christopher

8th August 2021