EMPHASISING THE DIAGONAL LINE

Late last year we had some very strong wind-storms which badly damaged a large Pomaderris bush . It was sited against a side fence in the garden that screened the neighbouring property. After removing the damaged branches I decided that I really needed to replace the whole bush. The gap left was 2.5 metres in diameter.

My remedy was to fill the space with two small Banksia praemosa plants and two hybrid Grevillia plants. Gardening does school us in the practise of patience.

Elsewhere in the garden...

 ...I was surprised to notice one of the Japanese quinces Chaenomeles japonica had produced a large yellow fruit, 7cm in diameter. 

When I looked more closely I counted 10 fruit altogether. Possibly enough to make a single small pot of marmalade!

Recently I had picked a number of Aspidistra leaves for some ikebana practise. I then placed them behind a door in a vase with some water and forgot about them. 

Six weeks later I found they were in a transitioning stage as they started to dry. I thought the colours were particularly beautiful and their lines most elegant. I set them in a red glazed vase by Alistair Whyte in a recessed shelf. The translucence of the leaf on the right was richly enhanced by the overhead light.

This year the Belladonna lilies Armaryllis belladonna, were about three weeks late from their usual flowering. I am sure the delay was caused by the drier-than-usual summer. Their pink trumpets were very eye-catching and ideal for an ikebana arrangement.

Above is my ikebana from two weeks ago. The Golden Rod Solidago canadensis needed to be replaced. However, the Agapanthus stems, which had started to turn yellow, still looked fine.

I started by trying to fill in the triangular space between the dried flower-heads with the Belladonna flowers. However, only one stem was long enough. This meant I needed to change my idea. Instead, by leaning two of the Belladonna stems to the left, I was able to create a cascading diagonal line of flowers above the leaning Agapanthus stems. This created a very different movement to the first ikebana.

Greetings from Christopher

12th April 2026