Ikebana at Oslo Botanical Garden 1

Bamboo, Weeping willow, Phlox, Chinese Ragwort and Cutleaf coneflower.
Basket arrangement, two containers, straight and curved lines.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to give an ikebana demonstration at the Botanical garden here in Oslo. The event took place in a beautiful building that house the old Botanical museum. The museum holds a large herbarium and a study collection of botanical objects, so it felt like a good place to exhibit flowers. To add to the ambiance, I also made a few ikebana arrangements for the newly renovated entrance hall.

Day Lily and Maple.
Land and water arrangement.

Water Lily, Spirea and grass.
Water plant arrangement.

All the botanical materials used in the exhibition and demonstration came from the botanical garden, which is a rare treat since it is normally strictly forbidden to cut anything inside the garden. I will post photos from the demonstration later this week, so stay tuned.

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Ikebana by Megumi - Summer Hydrangeas

Hydrangea is a typical summer season flower often used in ikebana. Hydrangea is native to the Japanese islands and has a long history in their culture. In the rainy summer season visiting temples with nice Hydrangeas, Ajisai in Japanese, is a popular activity in parts of the country. But the old Japanese version of Ajisai used in traditional ikebana arrangements is much more humble than the Dutch cultivars seen nowadays. The Western style Hydrangeas with big flowers masses, however, are very popular in modern ikebana. Have a look at this video from Seattle based Sogetsu ikebana teacher Megumi Schacher.

There are more nice ikebana arrangements on the website Ikebana by Megumi.

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