TREE PHILODENDRON

In the week before Christmas I had a brief walk along the Barwon River at Newtown as I was early for an appointment. 

There was a light drizzling rain when I came across this patch of waterlilies, that I thought looked quite beautiful. A calming moment before seeing the dentist.

Last weekend we went to Melbourne for Christmas and had the luxury of a slow walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens.

 

There I saw more water lilies. Almost the whole surface of one of the upper lakes was covered in pink waterlilies.

 

This individual flower near the water's edge looked particularly beautiful.

As did this mass of pink, mauve and purple Hydrangeas.

 

There was a whole bed of this dark blue Agapanthus. One of the cultivars that has appeared in recent years.

Summer is the flowering time for one of my favourite native trees, the Illawara Flame Tree Brachychiton acerifolius. In Victoria, if the conditions are right, it will loose all of its leaves before the spectacular flowering.

This close up of a panicle reveals part of the reason the flowering is so dramatic. The stems of the flowers are also the same intensely bright red. This panicle was on a tree in the Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden at the Botanical Garden.

Which is where we also came across this tree where something small may live.

Over the past couple of months in the Botanic gardens I have noticed an unusual event. In a number of places around the garden some clumps of bamboo have started flowering. Bamboos flower infrequently, usually after 40 - 80 years. However, some species only flower after very long intervals, as much as 120 -130 years. 

In this photo it is easy to see that the flowers look like those of other grasses. 

 

In this photo most of the bamboo has already turned brown and is dying. It is a mass flowering event in which all the plants in the cohort will flower and then decline and die. Seeds that fall from these plants will start the regrowth of the patch.

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Recently I re-introduced our Tree Philodendron Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum to the conservatory. The unfortunate, but very resilient, plant had spent the better part of two years out in the garden suffering considerable neglect. Finally, three or four months ago, I re-potted the plant and started to treat it more respectfully in the conservatory. It has responded well to the warmth, watering and feeding, by producing some larger leaves and two smaller shoots at the bottom. 

One of the leaves recently yellowed and began to die (of old age) first turning a beautiful bright yellow. This made it an interesting, somewhat largish, ikebana subject.

Because of a noticeable curve in its stem I decided to use this large curving vessel by Graeme Wilkie. The yellow leaf is the main subject but needed a foil. Green seemed best to highlight the yellow. I chose a fading leaf from the Strelitzia nicolai that had some autumnal tonings and a similar curve. With such strong materials, nothing else was needed.

I would like to wish you all a healthy and Happy New Year.

Greetings from Christopher
31st December 2023

 

SEASON'S GREETINGS

Last week I showed a close-up of a flower cluster on the Red Flowering Gum Corymbia ficifolia in the garden. The still smallish tree was a wedding present from a neighbour.

This photo shows the whole tree from an elevated position, so it just looks like a large shrub. Many more flowers have opened in the last few days and there are even more flowers that have not yet opened. I wanted to bring this intense colour indoors, so I picked a single inflorescence which had over forty individual flowers .

I set the flowers and a single branchlet in an irregularly shaped, mostly black, vase which has a closely matching red glaze across the mouth. It was made by the Adelaide ceramicist Rebecca Dawson.

The leaves of the beautiful Strelitzias, that we were given two weeks ago, were still going strong earlier this week. One of the leaves was particularly long with a curve such that the upper surface of the leaf could be seen from the front view, if it was placed extending to the left.

Coincidentally one of the flowers from our S. juncea clump had fallen to a near-horizontal position and its flower head turned in the right direction to suit the leaf so that they both faced forward. I worked on the curve of the flower stem to make it match that of the leaf and then set them both in this large tsubo vessel.

This photo shows the fixing technique that I used to hold the stems off the rim of the vessel. I used a very flexible forked branch from the Bay Tree Lauris nobilis, and bent the ends down to follow the curve of the vessel's shoulders. Rather like a natural cross-bar. This elevation of the stems off the rim creates a space underneath and gives a feeling of lightness to the line. However, a stem that extends like this but which rests on the rim of the vessel will look heavy.

The final photo shows the ikebana on the sideboard at night. Hence the photo is a little dark. The shino-glazed woodfired vessel is by the artist Sergio Sill.

As it is Christmas Eve I would like to wish you a peaceful Christmas and good health in the New Year.

Greetings from

Christopher

24th December 2023

 

STRELITZIAS

  

Summer is definitely in the garden. Such a change from a week ago.

The Red Flowering Gum Corymbia ficifolia, that we planted five years ago is now about two and a half metres tall. I noticed the buds forming some weeks ago, which now have begun to open. It looks splendid on a sunny day and is obviously very attractive to the bees.

I took this photo of the largest clump of African Iris Dietes Grandiflora, in the garden a couple of weeks ago. On the previous evening I had noticed that the clump was covered in unopened buds. The next day was predicted to be warm, after a cool spell. True to form, all the flowers opened at once making a very conspicuous splash of bright white in the garden. It ocurred to me later that the simultaneous flowering may well be a strategy to provide a highly visible target to attract pollinating insects.

Also the Strelitzia juncea is flowering well, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. In spite of that, I was delighted when we were visited by friends who brought a gift of some Strelitzia reginae including several large leaves with very long stems.

This gift was presented to Laurie but provided an enjoyable challenge for me. I took advantage of the long stems to create this ikebana in a large Shigaraki storage vessel. I massed five leaves in a line to the left. Four flower heads form a mass in the centre and a fifth flower provides a counter movement to the right. A sixth leaf is placed forward to neaten the mouth of the vessel, by concealing the stems of the massed flowers.

Later I re-used two of the leaves and three flowers in a suiban. I particularly like the form of Strelitzia leaves and find them very elegant. The tallest leaf is mostly seen from the back. However, at the top the leaf twists a little showing more of the upper surface. A shorter flower at the back gives depth to the ikebana while the flower on the right creates an interesting space. 

The suiban has an ovoid shape formed by a sinuous line. It was made by Graeme Wilkie at his studio, Qdos, in Lorne.

Greetings from Christopher

17th December 2023
 

IKEBANA AT HOME

I was very surprised to see a large number of under-7 and under-8 year old school children on the beach this morning. The cool wind from the south was moderate and it had made the surf quite choppy. I had just put on a rain-proof jacket as light rain had started.

The children were attending a summer program that teaches water safety, and was being run by the Surf Life Saving Club.  

It was reassuring to see that the children were being closely supervised by a proportionately large number of fully qualified surf rescue teachers as well as parents. I noticed that the program had obviously been modified for the day's poor weather conditions.

Now to the world of Ikebana. This week my Geelong students held an end-of-year social gathering, which at the last minute I found I was able to attend. The gathering was held for the first time at Jo's house and the students brought along food to share. Some of the students brought materials to set up "Ikebana at home". It is always a pleasant challenge to make ikebana in an unfamiliar environment. On this occasion I took the photographs against a plain wall so that the ikebana was easier to see.

Christine set a single Strelitzia Nicolai inflorescence in a cast iron, boat-shaped bowl. The bowl showed off the Strelitzia's subtle colours as well as its dramatic form.

Jo arranged two red-painted bare branches to which she added ropes of red beads for a "Christmas touch". The focal point included a branch of pine, a single arum lily Zantedeschia aethiopica  and a white Agapanthus.

Maree set a branch of Mediterranean Cypress Cupressus sempervirens vertically in a suiban and added three white painted dried Lotus pods and a stem of red Asiatic lily. 

  

   

Ellie used a clear glass cube into which she arranged an Aspidistra leaf below the water and a single white Chrysanthemum flower floating on the surface. A deep red glass bauble was attached to the Aspidistra stem.

I participated in the exercise also. However, I have re-set and photographed my Ikebana at home. Because of the relative abundance of Strelitzia flowers in the garden this year I was interested in the idea of making a mass with flower heads only. Using five flowers each pointing in a different direction, I set the flowers on the left side of the vessel's opening. In recognition of the end-of-year celebration and approaching holiday season, I added a sheet of gold-coloured foil. I liked the colour harmony of the foil. However, I lost the rather attractive space on that side.

The vessel was made by a friend and Ikebana colleague from Sydney, Margaret Hall who, as you can see, is also a talented ceramicist.

Greetings from Christopher

10th December 2023

 

HOME AGAIN and STRELITZIA JUNCEA

 

On Friday 24th November I was able to visit the Head Quarters of the Sogetsu School in Akasaka, Tokyo, the day that we left Japan.

From the fourth floor lobby I was surprised to see the towers of Shinjuku rising above the trees in the grounds of the former Akasaka Palace, now the State Guest House in Tokyo. A rather rare view in Tokyo.

On the fifth floor I was delighted to see this large ceramic sculpture "Do-VIII", by Hiroshi Teshigahara, the third Iemoto. I had not expected to see the warm colours of the clay body showing through on the lower part of the sculpture. 

The sculpture was set to the left of this large ikebana arrangement by Master Instructor Suikei Sakaguchi. The materials are: driftwood frame, Balloonplant Gomphocarpus physocarpus and Winterberry Ilex verticillata (a deciduous form of Holly).

Laurie and I were able to have a "farewell" lunch in the mezzanine cafe with seats overlooking the park at the side of the building. Then we caught a train to Narita airport for our return home.

Most of the days have looked like this for the past week. The photo was taken on Jan Juc beach looking west at 8.30 pm last Monday evening. It has been very strange to arrive home to the bright evenings of daylight saving. Not to mention the week of unseasonal rain. For which the garden is very grateful.

So much so that the potted Iris ensata opened late this afternoon.

And...

...the Strelitzia juncea is having its best flowering yet.

I decided to arrange two Strelitzia flowers in a shallow ceramic 1930's bowl by the Tasmanian ceramicist John Campbell. As there are no leaves to speak of on S. juncea, I added a leaf of New Zealand Flax that had started to go yellow. The leaf had a remaining stripe of green in the yellow part and its width gave a bit more substance to the otherwise bare flower stems. I bent the top of the leaf down to strengthen the mass at the top of the arrangement.

Greetings from Christopher

3rd December 2023
 

NAGOYA, and a class in TOKYO

Last weekend we returned to Nagoya for a few days, to catch-up with our friends there. On Tuesday one of them took us to the Hatcho Miso factory in Okazaki. I was really amazed when I learnt that the soy beans were fermented in wooden vats for two years.

This photo is of a fixed display, with models, showing the traditional preparation of the product. The large vat on the right contains six tons of fermenting miso with three tons of stones pressing down on the lid. The factory has been producing miso in this manner since 1645. 

We then walked to the nearby, reconstructed, Okazaki Castle, the birthplace of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

 

We were surprised to come across an open air Noh theatre...

...in front of which was this bamboo structure that provides eye-catching illumination at night.

On closer inspection I thought it would provide inspiration for some very patient ikebana practitioners.

We also caught up with June, who was a fellow class-mate in my Ikebana classes back in 1992. Here we are standing by one of the outer walls of Nagoya castle. June and her husband, Takashi, took us to a sports centre within the old grounds of the castle where there was a ceramics exhibition.

It was being held on the floor of a Sumo wrestling stadium. As these photos show, it was a huge exhibition and market. 

Potters came from all around Japan to participate. The temptation to buy was very considerable. However, the weight and bulk of the ceramics constrained our impulses and we only bought two items.

On Saturday last week I attended a class with Master Instructor, Kosa Nishiyama at her studio. In the flower shop nearby I brought two stems of red Siberian Dogwood and a single branch of Eucalyptus. The latter had a pink flush on the stem. Instead of buying flowers I decided to use vegetables and fruit. I had earlier noticed some Dragon Fruit in a supermarket and was drawn to its vibrant pink and contrasting green leaves. Some Broccoli was also added to my shopping list. These choices meant that the colour pallet of the materials was limited to red and green.

This is a  photo of my second self-selected exercise before correction. I had chosen a black metal vessel that was made with two tubes bent into a "V" shape, which were fixed parallel to each other off-centre and about 8cm apart. I placed the two Dogwood stems on the left side and the Eucalyptus on the right. To balance the arrangement I placed the Broccoli on the left leaning forward so that it presented its dome-shaped green surface to the front. I was not satisfied about the large space between the two parts. 

In her critique, Nishiyama sensei suggested that I bring the tip of the Eucalyptus curving down to connect with the Broccoli. As she held it in that position the ikebana immediately came together as a unified arrangement. Unfortunately I did not have time to photograph the corrected work as I had to rush off to another appointment.

This is the first ikebana I created with the the Dogwood and the Dragon fruit. I had placed the vessel upside down. Because of the extreme flexibility of the Dogwood I was able to secure it between the bars that joined the two "V" shaped tubes. I had impaled the fruit on a short stem of the Dogwood which lined up with the main stem. Sensei's correction was to create some space between the vessel and the Dragon Fruit by lifting it a little above the vessel. The photo shows the corrected version.

Greetings from Christopher
25th November 2023

ON THE ROAD WEEK THREE

 

On Sunday of last week we travelled to Mt Shosha near Himeji to visit Engyo-ji Temple, founded in 966 by Shoku Shonin. This temple complex is at the top of of a densely forested mountain. A really serene setting where the modern world seems to fade away.

At the top of these stairs is the temple hall, which appears to almost hang on the edge of the hill.

  

Beyond is a group of three buildings formed around a large square, open on one side. These large buildings were re-built in the Muromachi period (1336 - 1573) and, though grand in scale, are not intimidating structures. Because of their remote location these buildings have been used in many period Japanese films. As well, they have been used by Hollywood in such films as  'The Last Samurai'.

Beside the path I was really pleased to see a couple of Camellia bushes with early buds and one opened flower.

On Monday and Tuesday we visited two of the famous Art Islands in the Inland sea, Teshima and Naoshima.

We took a ferry each day from Uno Port enjoying the scene of the many small rocky-shored islands with rather dense tree cover.

On Naoshima the galleries are starkly modern. The approach into them is carefully controlled, so that a sense of anticipation is created in the visitor. This resulted in a sense of shock and surprise when the exhibition spaces were reached.

This is a very famous image: the Yellow Pumpkin installation by Yayoi Kusama at the end of a stone jetty.

Laurie and me enjoying the moment...

...and finding another at Uno Port.

When we got back to Tokyo we visited the daughter of one of Laurie's friends from the English conversation class he gave in Nagoya in 1978. She lives south of Tokyo in Chigasaki, where we went for a stroll to the (grey-sanded) beach. On the way we had to cross a highway on a pedestrian bridge.

 

The view was unexpected.

Greetings from Christopher.

19th November 2023