HORIZONTAL IKEBANA

Our summer weather continues to be somewhat more mild on the coast compared to further inland in Victoria. After posting photos last week of the beach,...

...my friend Leonora sent me this photo from her Ottawa apartment window a few days ago. I think I can make out at least two people walking or skating on the Rideau Canal in the middle of the photo. What I notice first in such winter photos is the absence of green. Whereas our winter is the season of green. Driving to Melbourne, or through the countryside, I am now noticing the yellow of dried grass and crops. Fortunately there is also the relief of green trees. However, bushfires are burning around the state and we need to be vigilant.

 

Two days ago, as we walked up to our local cafe, we saw this echidna walking across the road. I was not fast enough to take a photo while it was still on the road. We were pleased to see the car driver stopping until the echidna got to the verge...

 

... where it began seeking for ants to eat.

  

In the garden the Crassula arborescens is flowering, in spite of being invaded by a weedy grass that I did not get to early in the growing season.

Also, the Hydrangeas H. macrophylla are doing well this season. I learnt my lesson last summer. I had pruned the pale pink one back hard, mostly to the old wood, and only had a couple of flowers as a result. This past winter I only pruned back on the new wood,

I decided it would be interesting to arrange these two plants from very different environments, the Cape of South Africa and Japan respectively. 

I liked the idea of combining the pale-pink and orange flowers. By placing deep-green Hydrangea leaves behind the pink flowers they were effectively silhouetted, emphasising their outline. The dark-red slip-cast vase allowed me to make an asymmetrical horizontal design.

Greetings from Christopher

1st February 2026