WISTERIA AT LAST

In my Torquay class I recently set the exercise of making an ikebana focusing on straight lines.

Lynne used Watsonia fulgens in a suiban. By using two kenzans and crossing the materials, she has emphasised the lines in the ikebana. The leaves that come from the kenzan on the left side pass behind the flowering stems so as not to break that line.

Coralie stripped all of the leaves from her branch material Germander teucrium, which she inserted upside down in the tall vase. She placed a Gymea Doryanthes palmeri leaf at an angle across the branch material. She also placed a Strelitzia flower at an angle in alignment with the branch material, aligning the flower head with the Gymea leaf.

I challenged my senior students in Geelong recently by asking them to bring two vases and material for one ikebana arrangement. I then chose which vase would be used and gave it to one of the students. I then gave the botanical materials to a different student. In this way, none of the students had their own materials or vases, and none of the materials being used were chosen with that vase in mind. 

Ellie was provided with a small spherical vase in which she arranged green materials only, from the selection she was given. She arranged the Grasstree Xanthorrhoea so that it formed a cone with the apex in the vase. Behind the conical screen she placed two Green Goddess Lilies Zantedeschia; then placed a single green Lily low at the front of the arrangement. 

Helen was given a tall narrow vessel. Her material included a large fern-like leaf and some pink Grevillea. She cut most of the side stems from one side of the leaf and placed it forward. The Grevillea was then massed at the mouth of the vessel partly obscured by the leaf. 

Jo received some pink flowering Prunus branches, perhaps a plum. She also had some large round leaves Bergenia cordifolia, I think. The lines of the branches made it very difficult to arrange in the shallow vessel, as the branches tended to curve in contrary directions.

Maureen was given some tortuous Willow Salix, a Eucalyptus branch with gumnuts attached and a large pink incurve Chrysanthemum. Her vessel was placed with a forward opening aperture. The pink chrysanthemum was set forward and low in the arrangement, and was embraced by the other materials.

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In the garden recently I was delighted when the struggling Wisteria flowered again this year. 

The vine is very slowly making its way up a pole and has become surrounded by the apricot tree and a self-sown apple. I now need to disentangle it from these other plants a the end of autumn each year.

It seems to me that the racemes of flowers are very modest by what I think most gardeners achieve. However, I am pleased that the vine has survived to this stage. For the first time, there has been a side branch that I have been brave enough to cut for ikebana purposes.

I had to cut two racemes off this small stem because it looked too congested and needed some space between the flower clusters. The other material in the middle and left side, is an Australian plant Sticky boobialla Myoporum petiolatum, endemic to south eastern Australia. I  chose this for its small white flowers that do not detract from the Wisteria. The small narrow J

apanese vase has an almost black Tenmoku glaze.

Greetings from Christopher

4th October 2025