BELLADONNA LILY

A couple of weeks ago I set my senior Geelong students the task of making a renka arrangement using summer materials. As I have mentioned previously, the idea of renka was developed by the third Sogetsu Iemoto, Hiroshi Teshigahara. It is modelled on the Japanese classical linked-poetry form called renga, in which brief stanzas were improvised in response to the previous stanza. 

I added layers of difficulty for the students by asking them to bring two vessels and material of their choosing, which included some yellow material. The materials and vessels were separated so that the student had to work with materials brought by one colleague and one of the two vessels brought by another student. Each student worked in turn having only 15 minutes to complete their ikebana.

Helen Q inverted this vase using the small narrow space in the foot to arrange two Strelitzia reginae leaves, three yellow arum lilies (one is obscured in the photo) and a spray of Dancing Lady orchids.

Maureen arranged two branches of Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia baileyana, some yellow-centred maroon Helichrysum and a small stem of Dancing Lady orchid. Her lines picked up the lines in the previous ikebana.

Tess used a branch of box thorn encrusted with yellow lichen and added a mass of yellow flowers in the unusual vessel, creating a colour link to the previous work.

Christine's material was three spent Agapanthus stems and two blades of yellowing New Zealand flax, arranged in a modern style in a trough vessel.

Ellie created a mass with Corokia cotoneaster, and placed a mass of yellow Jerusalem Sage, Phlomis fruticosa, 

This photo is of the five linked ikebana works placed together in the sequence of their creation.

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February in the garden sees the Belladonna lily, Amaryllis belladonna, push up from the earth. We have three patches of them in different places, which means they flower progressively and provide us with a longer flowering period.

This patch, which does not get direct sunlight until around the middle of the day, was the last to open. I really love the form of the opening buds when the tips of several flowers of different sizes start to appear...

...as you can see in this close up.

Nearby is this Sedum cultivar, probably "Autumn Joy", given to me by my student Christine. It is a great plant for the rather dry soil of our garden and has a beautiful rich pink colour.

I have set two long stems of the Belladonna lily at an angle, in a cobalt-blue, circular suiban. Being arranged at the back of the suiban and leaning to the left front leaves the surface of the water clear making the ikebana feel light and fresh. The colour of the Sedum harmonises well with the principal material. This is the first time that I have considered the Sedum to be sufficiently established for me to cut some for my ikebana. I am pleased with the way these two materials work together in the blue suiban. 

Greetings from Christopher

26th February 2022