LEAVES ONLY IN AN UPRIGHT VASE

This week I set some of my Torquay and Melbourne students the task of making an ikebana arrangement incorporating any kind of Narcissus and one or more kind of some other flower material. It is the season for Narcissus flowers and I thought the additional challenge would encourage the students to think "outside the square". I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed.

Lyn created this ikebana with the principal subject being the strong diagonal line made with two variegated leaves of New Zealand Flax Phormium. These lines are balanced by a counterposed linear mass of yellow Daffodils at the base. A small pale green Anthurium sits low down behind the line of the flax.

Coralie also made a simple ikebana with a strong design using two Aspidistra leaves and three Daffodils for the main elements. She has emphasised the space between and under the leaves. Her second flower material was an Anthurium provided by her class-mate Lyn.

In the Melbourne class, Jacqueline arranged a single stem of white Narcissus Jonquilla low in the group of green Chrysanthemums. She also set a stem of Jasmine Jasminum, curving over the surface of the water on which she floated a large number of Jonquil flower heads.

In a modern Japanese ikebana vase, Eugenia placed three Daffodils as the focal point in her ikebana, setting them beneath a large ornamental Kale . The branch material is Leafless Acacia A. aphylla, from her own garden.

Chen's exercise was to make an Upright Variation No 1 in the Nageire style. I think the branches are from an Ash tree Fraxinus. The floral material is one of the many Grevilleas. In this variation, the Shin line is placed opposite the Support line and leans toward the rear. This dramatically opens up the space between these two lines.

Aileen's exercise was to create an ikebana using leaves only, in an upright vase. She used a Monstera leaf as the principle material which she cut in quite an interesting way. Look closely at the upper left of the leaf. Her additional materials were Fatsia Japonica, showing both the upper and lower sides of the leaves, and a single strong angled line of New Zealand Flax. 
 

My ikebana this week is this same exercise. Once again, one of the leaves on the Tree Philodendron Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum in the conservatory has started to turn yellow; so it has become the main subject of my ikebana.

I set the leaf in a tall black vase which has three openings, one at the top and one on each side. To complement and contrast with the Large leaf, I added two New Zealand Flax leaves that were heat damaged on one of the extremely hot dry days last summer. The upper surface of those leaves developed interesting markings in several shades of brown. I felt that the large yellow leaf required strong accompanying materials as well as a visually strong vase.

Greetings from Christopher

17th August 2025