SOME AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS

Australia is blessed with many very unusual looking plants that make excellent material for ikebana. Most of the continent has low rainfall and many of our native plants have specific adaptations for such dryness. Perhaps the most obvious are the plants with tough leaves that do not wilt. One particularly striking plant is Eucalyptus Macrocarpa, indigenous to the south west of Western Australia. 

I first came across it in its native habitat in 2014 when Laurie and I drove across the country. This photo was taken at the side of the road near Albany on the south coast.

On another visit to the west I saw this example in the Botanic Gardens at Kings Park in Perth, with a large fully-opened flower on a fairly stiff stem. The leaves and stems are covered in a light grey downy powder giving the plant a silvery appearance. For these reasons and its longevity in a vase E. macrocarpa is  grown for the floristry market.

My student Ellie recently used a single stem of E. macrocarpa with unopened buds to make this arrangement. She has added the dry stem of another species of eucalyptus to create a space and a sense of movement that complements the fresh material.

Ellie told me of her frustration when, in the process of arranging, some of the flower buds dropped off the branch.

Creatively turning this situation into a positive one, Ellie arranged the buds in a glass vase. The four buds are arranged asymmetrically and one is carefully anchored to show its profile. She has also taken care to create space in the ikebana. Under water the powdery surface of the material has developed a silvery sheen.

In our garden another Australian native Acacia baileyana, which I used in my ikebana last week, is at its most prolific flowering. 

During the week I was removing a struggling helebore when I noticed that the semi-prostrate A. baileyana was also starting to flower. This plant is always a little slower to flower than the tree form. In the photo the semi-prostrate plant is in front of the Strelitzia Juncea, the straight stems of which are seen protruding behind. Behind them is the A. baileyana tree form.

I had wanted to use the acacia again as it is such a cheerful sight on a wintery day.

I used two long stems of branch material which also have a blue grey appearance, akin to the E. macrocarpa. These stretch to the right while a mass of blossom reaches forward and to the left among a structure of red painted sticks. I have deliberately chosen this shino-glazed vase by the Canadian potter Don Goddard, because of the bluish grey that complements the leaf colour.

Greetings from Christopher

26th July 2020

FURTHER RE-USING of MATERIALS

Three weeks ago I noted that the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia Baileyana, in the garden had started to bloom. Now there are large masses of bright yellow blossom cascading from the branches. 

This small branch shows how the mass of blossom begins to weigh the branches down.

In close up each individual blossom is no more than a ball of fine filaments offering their load of pollen to the bees and other insects that can be heard humming among the branches.

About a week ago I decided to use the wattle blossom in an ikebana in such a way as to show its profusion and the cascading movement. This mean that I need to use a tall vase.

I decided to use this tapering vase by the New Zealand-born ceramic artist Arnaud Barraud, who now lives in Victoria. The tapering form makes securing the branches a little difficult.

My solution to this problem was to put a vertical fixture into a small kenzan that sits on the bottom of the vase then wire two cross bars at the top. Without being secured to the vertical fixture these cross bars would easily fall down inside the vase.

In the final ikebana I have massed the blossoms toward the right front so that they cascade below the level of the vase rim. To the left I have created a smaller mass of the blue-grey leaves of the wattle. A visual balance to the masses is created by two lines on the left-hand side. These are stems of Strelitzia juncea, which has a matte grey-green colour. The stems are formed into triangular shapes creating a more contemporary feel to the ikebana and picking up the shape of the vase.

I really enjoyed the exuberance of the wattle blossom for a few days until it started to fade. However the Strelitzia stems were still looking quite fresh so I decided to re-use them. I had noticed an out-of-season flower of Agapanthus and thought it would work well with the stems I had saved.

The single flower had a slight curve which I exaggerated a bit more so that it would make a contrasting line to the straight lines of the Strelitzia. Contrasting straight and curving lines is an exercise in the Sogetsu curriculum. I was pleased to be able to create the interesting space between the curving line and the straight line. The irregularly formed vase by Graeme Wilkie has a pale celadon glaze.

Greetings from Christopher 

19th July 2020

RE-USING MATERIALS

 

On Wednesday last there was bright sunshine even though the air temperature felt quite chilly to me.

Laurie and I decided to go to the Iron Bark Basin nature reserve for our routine walk. As usual, the understory around these trees was cleared last summer to reduce the bush fire risk. In the basin to the left of this photo the understory is reasonably dense.

One of the typical understory plants we saw was this beautiful Common Heath, Epacris impressa, which starts flowering in winter. It is the Victorian state floral emblem and has a colour range from red through shades of pink to white.

Also at this time of year many of the ground orchids start to flower. Above is a small colony of Greenhood orchids, Pterostylis.

Unfortunately this close up of one of them is more blurred than I realised at the time of taking the photo.

We also came across this Grass Tree, Xanthorrhoea, that had just started to send up a flower stalk. I will endeavour to track its growth over the next few weeks.

Two of my North American Sogetsu friends have sent me photos of their ikebana recently, which I thought I would share with you. It is interesting to see how they use the materials from their own gardens.

Michael, who lives in Florida, created this massed ikebana using Begonia leaves and two Chrysanthemum flowers. He has made a point of showing the front and backs of the leaves for their colour variation. His ceramic vessel is by Akira Satake.

   

Leonora, in Ottawa, has made a generous horizontally-spreading ikebana using Hosta leaves. She has placed the leaves to show their surfaces, which are emphasised by the contrast of the inflorescence from, I think, a Draecena. The modern metal vessel is a Sogetsu School design.

Two of my students in Covid isolation have sent me the following photos.

Ellie has made an ikebana 'using both native Australian and exotic materials'. Her ikebana features Banksia flowers and leaves, as the principal materials, and dwarf Nandina Domestica for the secondary material. These are arranged with driftwood to provide a textural contrast.

Eugenia's 'one kind of material' ikebana features two Haemanthus leaves and Clivia berries. She has used the leaves to create a sense of movement, as well as containment for the hikae of berries. The low position of the materials complements the unusual vessel.

This week my ikebana is an exercise of 're-using materials' and giving them a second (or third) life. The Acanthus leaves and Hydrangea were used in last week's large arrangement. In this smaller ikebana I have created a space by elevating the upper leaf thereby also showing the interesting pattern of the veins on the underside. The hydrangea provides a colour contrast to pick up colours in the Bizen style vase by Ian Jones.

Greetings from Christopher

11th July 2020

Additional information for flower arrangers.

Acanthus leaves are notoriously difficult to use in ikebana because they wilt very quickly. The photo was taken eight days after their initial use in the previous ikebana. The technique I have learnt is: after cutting the stems under water, stand them in warm water (40C) with 1% vinegar added (that is 10ml per litre). It is worthwhile keeping them for several hours in a cool dark place if you can. If possible do not use a kenzan as the stems are prone to splitting and becoming very soft. I tend to use this technique for any materials that are known to wilt quickly.

SOME PRUNED BRANCHES

Two weeks ago I thought the predicted rain would break through the sand bar at the mouth of Spring Creek.

  

This photo which I took back then made me think of an 'infinity' swimming pool. Nearly there but not quite. 

However, it took an extra week for the water level to breach the sand bar. In the process, the outward flood created an 'S'- shaped flow and the metre-high sand cliffs that you can see.

The drop in the water level exposed large expanses of sand that had been covered by shallow water.

Further back up the creek in the freshly exposed mud flats this White-Faced Heron was using the opportunity to feed. In the foreground of this photo is what looks like a large concrete roller which has probably come from the Golf Links about 20 metres to the left, just out of the frame.

Now to ikebana. 

Eugenia made the above ikebana on the theme of "using an every-day object as the vessel". Her vessel is a metal funnel that has been inverted. A dry branch has been inserted into the funnel and a piece of bark extends to the ground. Camellia leaves give the ikebana a feeling of freshness and life. In the photo Eugenia has also played with the effect of the slanting line of shadow on the wall.

Marcia made her ikebana using rose prunings from her new garden. The tall shin line of the bare branch which rises above the ceramic vessel is from the same bush as the single flower and mass of leaves.

The material for my ikebana this week went well beyond pruning. I had to completely remove the branches of a ground covering Bluebell Creeper, Billardiera heterophylla, which had died. This was planted about 30 years ago and as I removed the mass I realised that I had some very interesting ikebana material in my hands. In the photo above I had already started pruning so that I could refine and emphasise the principal lines. I am hoping the material will dry well for re-use in the future. 

  

The width of the vine was a little over two metres. This created a small logistical problem for the purpose of taking a photograph. After moving a Buffet, then the dining table and chairs I had enough uncluttered wall space to site the Shigaraki vessel.

To ensure that the two sides of the ikebana look asymmetrical I have pruned the right hand side to a single zig-zagging line and kept many more fine lines on the left side. The fresh materials making up the mass are three Acanthus mollis leaves and four hydrangeas with autumnal colouring.

Greetings from Christopher, with best wishes to readers from Canada and the USA - whose respective national days are celebrated this week.

4th July 2020

RINGING THE CHANGES

Last week I commented that if we get some more rain the creek at Torquay will wash through the sand bar. 

Well that has not happened yet. Instead the waves at high tide were washing over the sand bar into the creek. That combined with the slow flow from up-stream has raised the level of the creek a little further.

The water surface was exceptionally still when I managed to take this photo of a cumulus cloud and its reflection in the late afternoon.

In the garden the first of the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia Baileyana, blossom has started to open. I thought this would be a good material to use with the massed ikebana of curving lines that I included on last week's post.

This is how it looked last week.

For my first re-working of this ikebana I have added two loose curving lines. This 'opens up' the ikebana, allowing it to 'breathe' and creates a different feeling.

 

I then added a mass of Cootamundra blossom, creating a focal point. In Sogetsu terms this mass is called the hikae, which I have seen translated as 'achieving balance'. The hikae mass balances the movement of the asymmetrically placed principal lines.

The Costal Sword Sedge leaves, which are the main material of this ikebana, not only last well but also change. Over time the leaves develop autumnal colouring in the form of orangey stripes that contrast beautiful with their rich green. This colouring started to occur in some of the leaves in the five days since I did the first re-working with the Cootamundra Wattle.

Today I have changed the position of the kenzan so that the coloured leaves show better and have added some Dwarf Nandina Domestica, as well as a single upward curving line.

Greetings from Christopher

27th June 2020

LEAVES ONLY AT THE WINTER SOLSTICE

   

During this time of Covid-19 restrictions Laurie and I have developed a pattern of a long daily walk, with the principal destination being a cafe where we have been able to buy a cup of coffee to take away. The route of our walk varies according to the weather, or just our whim.

Yesterday we crossed the boardwalk at the mouth of Spring Creek and noticed that the sand bar is only a few centimetres above the creek surface. In the photo above it is the thin brown line that separates the creek surface from the sea in the background. If we have more rain the sand bar will be breached and the creek will flow into the sea.

This view shows the board walk along the bank of the creek. In the distance it sweeps back across the full width of the creek. 

In the last week our destination cafe has been allowed to have a small number of customers inside, after 'signing in' and observing distancing protocols. It is so pleasant to be able to sit down and to use ceramic cups again.

I laughed out loud with delight when the coffee arrived with our names written in the decorated froth on the coffee.

And now to ikebana and, first, some of my students' work.

Eugenia's exercise is an arrangement that, "incorporates Australian native material and exotic materials". I set this challenge to my students because it can be quite difficult for materials to work together if they are from very different climates. In this ikebana the line on the left is the central rib of a Monstera Deliciosa  leaf which is native to Mexico and central America. The other materials are a variety of Kangaroo paw Angiozanthos and Acacia aphylla.

 

Marcia's exercise was to first create a freestanding 'sculpture' with some dry branches, for which she chose corky elm.

Then in a second step she has arranged that material in a vase with some fresh materials. In this case some white camellia.

The winter solstice has arrived and tonight will be the longest this year. With fewer flowers around, for some time I have been thinking to use some Costal Sword Sedge, Lepidosperma gladiatum to make an ikebana arrangement.

 

This is one of my favourite local materials. The leaves are long, tough and can be manipulated into beautiful curves. As they age they often colour into beautiful shades of orange before turning grey.

This is a flowerhead, which grows on a long stiff stalk that looks like a slightly thicker leaf.

I have arranged the leaves in a shallow ceramic bowl by Phil Elson. The asymmetric mass is set in a kenzan that is placed well to the left in the bowl. This placement creates a space where the water surface can be seen on the righthand side of the bowl. For a colour contrast I have added the surviving Hydrangea leaves from last week's ikebana. As this ikebana will last for at least a couple of weeks I am looking forward to re-working it for next weeks post.

Greetings from Christopher

21st June 2020

WHEN FLOWERS ARE NOT NEEDED

  

On the Victorian 'surfcoast' there are a lot of creative people, which has led our local government to promote an 'arts trail' for the last few years. In the time of physical distancing and our being encouraged to avoid communal gatherings some people have been creative, using strategies that remind me of guerrilla gardeners in suburban settings.

I was delighted to see this 'rainbow' of butterflies that appeared overnight on the fence of the RACV Torquay Resort, which includes the former Torquay Golf Links. I was impressed by the careful graduation of the colour transitions and the variation in the size of the butterflies. 

More startling was this ephemeral sand sculpture that appeared on the beach last Tuesday morning. This photo shows about 30 % of its extent. (I had gone down to the beach, knowing that it was low tide, to take a photo for my brother.) The flowing patterns are mostly abstract. However, I noticed that one was in the form of a whale's tail fluke. These patterns are the work of the Sand Whisperers, a local couple whose ephemeral creations are also to be found through the blue link and elsewhere on the internet. Of course these art forms are very appealing to me as a practitioner of ikebana.

This photo from a different angle gives a better sense of the extent of the sculpture.

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In the meantime, my students have continued to create ikebana at home and send me their photos.

This ikebana by Marcia was made some weeks ago. She has arranged Dancing Lady orchid and purple Dalia, creating a work of 'Colours in Contrast'.  

Eugenia created this simple ikebana responding the the unusual form of her Bizen vase with the twisting line of a succulent.

 

Ellie created a vertical ikebana two Peonies with three hydrangea leaves in a traditional ikebana vase.

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In the garden this week my task was to prune the hydrangeas. They were rather battered by the three 40C+ days we had in January and February. 

I took this photo on the 18th January before the first really hot day.

Here is the same plant after pruning. As you can see I have saved one especially tall straight stem as it is particularly thick and it raises the height of the plant above the retaining wall where it sits. The hydrangea leaves had started to colour beautifully and in a different way, as beautiful as the first flowers of six months earlier. Ideal material for ikebana. 

This is my single-material ikebana using leaves and stems but no flowers. The line to the left helps emphasise the space in the arrangement and the curving leaves also draw the eye back into the work. What is not apparent is the strong forward movement.

This side view shows that the leaf mass is composed of many stems carefully placed to make the most of the colour of the leaves. Also that the single line in fact projects well forward.

Here is the ikebana in the niche in the living room, where it caught the early morning sunlight. The bowl is by Graeme Wilkie of Qdos Gallery in Lorne.

Greetings from Christopher

14th June 2020.