In a Vase on Monday: Ikebana Experiment

Last week, Cathy of Rambling in the Garden challenged those participating in the meme she hosts, "In a Vase on Monday," to try an ikebana-style arrangement.  I've admired the arrangements created by Susie at pbmGarden but I consider the artistic discipline associated with ikebana beyond my skill level.  Nevertheless, I decided to give it a go.  I considered a number of floral and foliage elements, including succulents.  In the end, I selected Grevillea as my focal point, partly because the flowers are complex and partly because I thought the approach would allow me to show off the plant's leaves, which usually get lost in my arrangements.

After reviewing some examples of ikebana arrangements on-line (and becoming seriously intimidated), I decided to keep my first try very simple

I selected materials from 3 plants and used just 2 stems of each.  Clockwise from the far left are close-ups of the pinwheel-like flower of Grevillea 'Superb', a Grevillea leaf, Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' flaunting its summer colors, Coprosma 'Inferno', and the closest thing I have to an ikebana vase.

Because I had no idea what I was going to use in the ikebana arrangement, I cut a lot of different plants on spec as I wandered my garden.  Of course, that left me with plenty of material to use in other arrangements.  The pink Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) in the backyard border has produced huge sprays of flowers on the year-old plants.  They're so heavy, they're falling over so thinning them out is almost essential.

I used just one stem of Eustoma and the vase my husband bought me for my birthday in May

Top view

In addition to the double-flowered pink Eustoma (top), I reused the Abelia x grandiflora stems (bottom, left) cut for one of last week's vases and Origanum 'Monterey Bay' (bottom, right)

For some reason, the pink Eustoma in my garden are much more vigorous than any of those in other colors I've grown.  Perhaps it's as simple as the sun exposure in the location I selected for the pink varieties last year is optimal for their development.  In any case, I've been disappointed that the beautiful 'Borealis Blue' I grew in prior years hasn't come back.  This spring, I planted a mix of yellow, green and blue flowering plants I purchased by mail order but those plants haven't attained the vigor of those planted in prior years, at least not as yet.  Although I submitted my order in December, I didn't receive the plants until early April and, still small when our nasty June heatwave struck, relatively few have bloomed.  The biggest disappointment is that I'm unable to distinguish the plants that the grower claimed would bloom with green flowers from those that were to bloom with yellow flowers.

I believe that the pale Eustoma (Lisianthus) blooms shown here include both those the grower labeled as green and yellow

Back view showing a few of the flowers sprouting from the red stems of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' this summer

Top view

Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: yellow and "green" Eustoma grandiflorum, Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' (grown from seed), Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucadendron 'Pisa', and Origanum 'Norton Gold'

As usual, I scattered the arrangements around the house.

The ikebana-style arrangement sits on an end table in the living room

The rose-like pink Eustoma arrangement sits on the dining room table

And the yellow arrangement sits in the front entry

Pipig was unimpressed by my efforts.

But then she generally ignores the flowers unless she thinks they're getting attention that should rightfully be directed to her

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other gardeners have put together this week.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party