TWO SMALL IKEBANA ARRANGEMENTS

My internet friend, Amos, who lives in Maryland sent me the photo below of his garden ten days before Christmas.

A beautiful sight, absolutely made for a northern hemisphere Christmas card.  

Although I took this photograph on "our" beach nine years ago, it remains one of my favourite images of Christmas Day in this part of Australia.

Below are photos from the last of the end-of-year ikebana class celebrations. The photos were taken at Ellie's house, where we held the final 2025 class for my Geelong students.

Anne used two vessels. In her ikebana, the vessel on the left has a reversed slanting variation number one and on the right is a basic upright ikebana. Using two vessels to make one ikebana arrangement is an exercise at the end of the first part of the Sogetsu curriculum. Unidentified branches and Red valerian Valeriana ruber flowers are the materials used.

Sussie used a vase with three openings. For her main material she used stems of Yam daisy "Murnong" Microseris walteri, an indigenous food source. The stems had finished flowering. Sussie then added Smoke bush Cotinus inflorescence and two Marigold Calendula flowers placed behind the other materials. 

Helen arranged Smoke bush, pale blue Statice Limonium and pale mauve Sweet pea Lathyrus odoratus flowers. Her ikebana was set on a low table and designed to be viewed from all around.

In a tall cylindrical vase, Maree arranged Delphinium, Sea Holly Eryngium and a mass of unidentified white and pale pink flowers at the front. She created a Christmas look with a gold spherical bell placed on the table, and ribbon around the vase.

Ellie used a narrow, flat-fronted Japanese vase in which she arranged two Arum Zantedeschia leaves, a single Goddess Lily and a mass of white daisies partially hidden behind the large lily flower. She added a red glass ball which sat in the fold of the leaf at the rear, and strategically placed the ikebana so that it was reflected in the mirror behind.

Maureen used an unusual vase with an off-centre hole poking through from the front surface. She arranged large stems of Smoke bush and then added three Strelitzia flowers. The Strelitzia really lightened the deep maroon of the Smoke bush, which would otherwise have looked dull against the background. 

In this rather busy period, Christmas through to New Year's Eve, I have only two small simple ikebana arrangements to share with you today. 

This first one-flower ikebana came about when this Strelitzia was superfluous to the needs of my ikebana on 7th December. I was looking around for a suitable vase when my eye landed on this unusual vessel by Paul Davis. The narrow opening allowed me to position the flower stem so that it face upward despite being placed almost horizontally.

My second arrangement is a small mass of three Mr Lincoln roses that I had picked early in the morning yesterday. By the time I was ready to set them, the room was filled with their beautiful fragrance. I added a small dried branch from the Apricot tree to provide a contrasting line. I bought the traditional style celadon-glazed vase many years ago when we visited Hong Kong in the time before I started studying Sogetsu ikebana. The timeless nature of this classic glaze seems to complement almost any botanical material.

Sending you best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Christopher

28th December 2025