SOME SUMMER FLOWERS

 

Recently I came across this mass of succulents spilling over on to the edge of a footpath from a front garden. My attention was caught by the repeating shapes of different sizes among the rosettes of leaves. The apparently never ending patterns in growing plants is extraordinary and inspires a sense of joy and wonder in me. Reflecting on this reminds me of seeing models of plant and shell-like forms created by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi that reveal their fractal geometry. I think my favourite botanical example of such natural form has to be the Romanesco broccoli.

I first saw this extraordinary vegetable in a market in Naples ten years ago and could not resist taking a photograph.

In the garden yesterday...

 

...I noticed that the Crassula aborescens, which is growing in the shade of the apricot tree, had developed some flower stems that were growing almost horizontally in their search for light. This meant that in my ikebana I could achieve a slanting line without trying the impossible task of creating a curve in these stems, which are not flexible. Also, the flowers would be at the angle at which they have grown.

 

The angle of the stems gave me the opportunity to use this unusual vessel by the Victorian ceramic artist Paul Davis, which features his thick white glaze. Paul has evolved this glaze and clay body over the period since he studied for five years with the potter Saka Koraizaemon XII in Hagi, Japan. I am including this closeup to show the thickness of the glaze and its lustrous crackled surface.

The vessel is heavy and ideal for a slanting ikebana, although with this material the weight was not necessary. Because of the inflexibility of the stems I have inserted a vertical bamboo skewer in each of the slanting stems to stop them from lifting out of the vessel. The unusual curving line on the smaller stem was the result of it growing through the wire mesh of our side fence.

The material for my second ikebana is Hydrangea. In the photo above the flowering branches from two different pots have spread into each other. The deeper pink on the left came from the garden of Laurie's family home and the pale pink from our friends Rosemary and David. It is so good for a garden to contain the hidden stories of friendships.

  

This is another vessel by Paul Davis. It has the form of two conjoined cylinders that gently broaden from the base. I have used two pale pink Hydrangeas and placed one of the slightly darker pink ones at the back of the ikebana. A stem of variegated Miscanthus 'Zebrinus', which has started to dry provides some sinuous lines that contrast with the mass of the Hydrangeas. The ikebana shows two different aspects of summer: the lush growth in a well-watered garden and the drying effects of summer heat in Australia.

Greetings from Christopher

29th January 2023

 
 

EUCALYPTUS CORNUTA

 

It certainly looked like summer...

...on the beach at Jan Juc last week. However, the main beaches in Torquay were much more crowded. 

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne were also looking bright and cheerful early in the morning last Tuesday.

I was delighted to see how profuse the Lotus flowers had become since our visit on Christmas day. I have just read in Wikipedia that the Sacred Lotus, Nelumbo lucifera, is not a water lily. I encourage you to read the short second paragraph in the link provided. You may be surprised by which plants are their closest living relatives.

In Iron Bark Basin the summer flowering Pink hyacinth orchid, Dipodium roseum is now blooming. From Wikipedia I have also learnt that this very lovely orchid absorbs nutrients from soil fungi and thus survives without having any leaves. 

Last year's wetter than usual spring weather has been good for the garden at Torquay. However, it has also been good for the weeds and the white cabbage moth butterflies!!  I am hoping that the inevitable caterpillars will be easy food for the birds to find.

The large Eucalyptus cornuta at the bottom of the garden has come into flower again. The masses of light greenish-yellow flowers have a sweet honey-like fragrance. It is a close relative of E. lehmannii which has a larger more dense flower inflorescence. The trees' common name, Yate, comes from the Nyungar language of the south-western part of Western Australia.

I have chosen this material as the subject for my ikebana this week.

After removing all but two of the leaves, I arranged some branches in a large vase. I have kept the branches with open flowers to the middle and right-hand side. The spiky-looking  elements on the left are stems of spent flowers. When I picked the branches, some of the flowers had been open for some time and those ones dropped their stamens at the slightest touch. By separating the spent flowers and the open flowers, I have  shown the different characteristics of the material. I created a space between the two groups and added some drying Aspidistra leaves for their contrasting texture. The photo above against a white backdrop emphasises the lines and movement of the ikebana.

 

When I changed to a black backdrop the colour of the flowers  and Aspidistra leaves became emphasised. I like the way that the yellowish flowers contrast with the blue of the vase.

The vase is by the American ceramic artist Mark Bell, from Maine, USA.

Greetings from Christopher

22nd January 2023

BANKSIA PRAEMORSA

January is a splendid time for some of the more spectacular Australian native flowering trees. Three weeks ago, in my Boxing Day post, I included images of Grevillea Robusta in the Royal Botanic Garden Melbourne and last week Bursaria spinosa, from our own garden and nearby.  

This week, when we were in Melbourne, Laurie pointed out to me a row of Brachychiton acerifolius, that have been planted as street trees near the National Gallery of Victoria. Above are the eye catching red panicles, the stems of which are also bright red. This attribute intensifies the dramatic appearance of the leafless tree when it is flowering profusely.

What was particularly interesting is that this tree, above, was the only tree in a long row that was almost totally bare of leaves, but covered in the red flowering panicles. The tree to the left with the bright green leaves is one of those that was not flowering this year. 

This, yet to flower, Brachychiton is in our garden. It is easy to see the deeply divided leaves, that give it the name acerifolius (maple-leafed), showing clearly in this photo.

The next spectacular large shrub is a Banksia Praemorsa. This is a native of the south coast of Western Australia which is tolerant of salty winds. I was interested to learn that all the naturally occurring populations are within 2km of the coast. This particular example is growing in the garden of my ikebana friend Rosemary and her husband, whom we visited on Wednesday.

*          *          *          *          *

Now from plants to ikebana. Earlier in the week we had a guest visit and I decided that I really needed to refresh the small ikebana in the niche in the living room.

I had initially arranged this branch of Pinus radiata with a small Hydrangea. Of course, the pine continued to look quite fresh but not the Hydrangea. This time I replaced the Hydrangea with some stems of Feverfew Tanacetum parthenium. I was pleased at the change in character of this ikebana with the white and yellow of the flowers and light green foliage looking particularly fresh.

On Wednesday as we were about to leave Rosemary's house, she kindly got out her long-handled secateurs so that I could have some of the large Banksia flowers from her garden. I used them to make two ikebana arrangements.

This first one is a "simplified ikebana" being reduced to a single Banksia flower and a short stem of leaves. Its colour harmonises well with the earthy tones of the vessel made by Janet Keefe in Ontario, Canada.

In my second ikebana I have used three flowers, one long principal stem and some shorter ones. Unfortunately, the photograph has rather flattened the appearance of the ikebana. The longest line extends forward to the left and the lowest line goes to the back before then curving forward.

The ceramic vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Mel Ogden.

Greetings from Christopher

14th January 2023
 

BURSARIA SPINOSA

 

Yesterday when we returned home from shopping I was startled to come around the corner...

...only to find Spike at the top of the garden path fossicking for ants that nest under the bricks. It was a very warm day and I think that the water, in the saucers under the pot plants, were also a welcome resource for Spike.

One of the small trees in our garden is the native Bursaria spinosa, a handful of which we planted about 20 years ago. They have grown quite well to a height of five or six metres. Having been planted in a group they do not spread very much. The abundant panicles of their small white flowers are quite conspicuous at this time of year.

Not in our garden, this large example in the nearby creek is a good seven to eight metres tall and has quite a spread.

As an ikebana subject, one of the attractions of this plant is the zig-zaging that can occur on a branch as forking takes place. 

The other attraction to me is the mass of the flower panicle. It is an extra advantage to have such an attractive mass on the same plant. This week I made two ikebana arrangements that incorporate Bursaria.

The first of these has Scabiosa atropurpurea as its main subject. As I showed last week, this plant is growing profusely at the moment in one part of the garden and is a delight for its shades of white through pink to maroon. The very loose mass of mainly maroon flowers leaning to the right reflects the way the plant is easily blown by the wind. I have visually anchored the Scabiosa with a mass of Bursaria at the base then extended it slightly to the left as a counterbalance to right leaning lines. The bowl is by the ceramic artist Graeme Wilkie, of Qdos Studio in Lorne.

My second work is a single material ikebana using Bursaria only. The subject of this ikebana is the line of the principal branch on the righthand side. This particular branch had caught my attention a couple of weeks ago as it hung over a neighbour's fence above the footpath. The mass is separated from the main line by a space which is defined by a finer branch at almost the same angle as the principle line. The vase has two openings which dictate the width of the space between these two lines.

The vessel is a mid-20th century Japanese ikebana vase.

Greetings from Christopher
8th January 2023

 

REUSING MATERIALS

 

In November 2021 we had the beams replaced in the conservatory because they had started to rot. During the process all the plants and the ornamental pond had to be removed. In the course of the project I decided to reduce the number of plants and replace the pond with a smaller water feature.

This night-time photo shows the much reduced number of plants that I returned to the conservatory in November last year.

Most of the plants have done well since then. The best performer so far has been this "Brazillian Jasmine", which I think is a cultivar of Mandevilla sanderi, (and is not fragrant). 

Yesterday was New Year's Eve and we were blessed with a visit from Spike, the echidna, who had also been in the garden earlier in the week. The warm weather suits Spike, who was feeding on little insects that enjoy the damp soil around the Rosa "Mr Lincoln" that I have been watering lately.

Not needing so much water is the Scabiosa atropurpurea. I am pleased to have noted two Scabiosa plants elsewhere in the garden with white flowers and intend to try to gather some of the seed.

Sally Wilkinson's very pale pink Hydrangea is flourishing this year, as are the other Hydrangeas. I decided it would make a good subject for a small ikebana re-using pine from my Christmas ikebana. I did not have the opportunity to make a larger New Year's ikebana and instead made two smaller ones.

For the first ikebana I set the materials in an egg-shaped vessel that I bought in Seto City in about 2004. The clay is unglazed but splashed with a few small lines of creamy-white glaze.

I also re-used the remaining branch of pine for the second ikebana, to which I added a bud and fully opened Mr Lincoln rose. The Irregularly-shaped small vase, from Mashiko, is made from a dense dark clay and has an ash glaze around the mouth.

On Christmas Day I made a welcoming ikebana, Omukaebana, for our small family celebration. For that, I also re-used materials. The corky elm was from a class at Elizabeth's place at the end of October. I added a single cerise Hydrangea as a mass and contrasting colour focal point.

I hope this finds you well and wish you all the best for 2023.

Christopher
1st January 2023