Serene Celadon Ikebana

Today’s arrangement is a very simple, clean, and summery trio of clematis in serene celadon vases. The vases are all different shapes, but the colours are very close and I think that really helps the whole thing stay balanced. It doesn’t just look like I grabbed three random containers; it feels thoughtful and intentional. I love the repeated triangular shapes formed by the flowers and vases so much I chose to display it on a mirror, to echo that repetition even further. It also adds a watery feel that encourages the cool fresh summer vibe I was hoping to achieve. Overall, I’m very pleased with this one.

That wasn’t initially the case though! Just as a reminder that sometimes, things don’t work out and your best course of action is to come back later. Here was the original arrangement and photo I took yesterday, where the flowers were too crowded by foliage and you couldn’t even see the tall vase. I debated about posting it as-is, but I was unhappy with it and I’m glad I tried again. Also, if you’re like me and you’ve got trypophobia just be warned that photo has a particularly pock-marked side of the really earthy vase exposed. That might be part of why it displeased me so much!

Nageire Crabapple Ikebana

As I mentioned a while back, the climate here in Montreal isn’t exactly ideal for sakura, but you can bet that as soon I saw a crabapple tree with these ruffly pink blooms on it on public land by the side of the road, I convinced my father to pull over so I could go cut some. Yes, I do keep a pair of pruning secaturs in the car for just this sort of situation. I have no shame at this point. Don’t worry though, I definitely don’t trespass or take flowers from private or manicured gardens!

These blooms are so lovely and have the perfect textural balance of rough bark and soft petals. I knew that I wasn’t going to include any other type of flower or vegetation to make sure they stayed the focus of the whole arrangement. I wanted to do a nageire (thrown-in) style ikebana, just relying on a tall vase and the natural inclination of the branches, rather than the more structural moribana style with a kenzan that I seem to gravitate towards most of the time. I was also thrilled to finally be able to use this vase; I received it as a surprise in the mail a while back. Whoever sent it (I’m going to take a guess that you read this blog), thank you so much. It’s so beautiful!

A couple of blossoms fell off as I was arranging the branches and they felt so pretty and natural and emblematic of the short-lived beauty of spring that I decided to leave them where they were. And yes, I used my new screen again. Sorry not sorry! I think it may become my default setup for my ikebana posts. I also couldn’t resist taking a couple of close-ups. Should I include detail shots of my arrangements more often? Let me know in the comments!