I bought a bunch of hydrangeas for class a few days ago. Surprisingly, they still looked pretty good to use again, because I treated them the right way, dipping the cut in alum or immersing the whole stem into the water for couple of hours. I was so delighted with the result that I decided to make another arrangement!
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| This arrangement could be “Colors of Container” too. |
Fortunately, the first day of Spring was a warm and bright sunny day! Going to class was a pleasant time. We had two lessons.
Lesson (1): Color of Container; I would like to make this subject totally different from before. First, I looked at the container that I chose carefully, then I knew what combinations of the materials and the colors of the container, and how they could complement each other. Hence, I used the tree barks and a lichen covered branch combined with blue and white hydrangeas. I thought the composition might surprise my teacher and classmates! (3/18/2025)
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| Blue and white hydrangeas would be added |
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| Sensei’s Demo |
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| Arranged at the class (3/18/2025) |
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| Rearranged at home |
Class lesson (2) : In this lesson, all the dried or colored materials can be arranged alone, or they can be combined with fresh flowers.
Materials: dried and colored palms, safflower, baby’s breath and fresh daffodil. (3/18/2025)
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| Sensei wants me to add pussy willow to look more dimensional |
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| Looks so much prettier than before |
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| My original design |
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| Sensei’s Demo |
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| Classmate’s arrangements color of container and lesson (2) |
The Philadelphia Flower Show ended last week (1/9/2025). Some of the leftover materials from my arrangement were still fresh enough to use again. The Forsythia branches were blooming but the Peony buds were too tight to open, and the pink mums were still pretty. I chose a tall black triangle ceramic vase to suit my new design. (3/12/2025)
The”Gardens of Tomorrow” theme for the 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show encourages envisioning a brighter, greener future through garden and planting, emphasizing the power of nature and human ingenuity to create a healthier planet.
It happened that my daughter came to visit us, I asked her to work as my assistant for my arrangement at the Flower Show. The first rotation ended 3/3 Monday 8:00 PM. I and my daughter started setting up my arrangement right after they empty the spot, making a seamless transition for the 2nd rotation (3/4 -3/6). I really like my final arrangement, I think it’s beautiful! It’s my style also!
Materials: Mitsumata, forsythia, chrysanthemum, hydrangea, peony, baby’s breath and Philodendron.
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| Right side view |
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| Left side view |
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| Part of 2nd rotation arrangements |
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| Ohara school’s main fixture for the entire week |
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| Sogetsu school |
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| Ichiyo school |
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| My first attempt, the breached mitsumata need to make much higher |
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| Added forsythia and changed Mitsumata to upright |
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| Final outline, imagine the white board is blue gray 3 feet circle, 16 inches high from ground |
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| Buxmount study group’s design |
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| Mainline branch’s design |
