Basket and Peony Arrangement

My husband's Japanese teacher gave me this basket (she made it by herself) and a beautiful wood base (see second picture) as gifts before she moved to Hawaii for retirement. I am so happy that I can use them for Ikebana.

Material: Iris, Coral Bell leaf and Peony.

Twigs (I painted and used them many times), Hosta, peony.

MWGC May Little Show "Reflective Design"

"Twilight's Last Gleaming"- I made a Ikebana style arrangement  for garden club's little show, using three silver painted Bamboo, Shimmery ribbon, Hosta and Peony to suit this requirement "Reflective Design" I got 1st place.(5/23/2012)

Free Style- Using flowers

Now, my garden is so colorful and has a lot of Ikebana materials that I can choose from. It's a pity if I don't do any flower arrangements at home to continue practicing. Even though I don't have any classes for the entire month of May. So I have done some Ikebana recently, here is one, using Coral bell, Rose and Anemone in a very unique container.

Iris and Free Style Arrangememt

Materials: Peony with Scotch Bloom ( I trimmed some flowers off )

Materials: Iris, Butterfly maple and Spider wort.

May Orchids Bloom

Iwanegara Apple Blossom .Sturdy, compact plant. Great fragrance.

Cat. Irene Finney. Flowers are large and fragrance

Cym. Little Black Shampoo " Black Magic" AM/AOS
Below picture  is close up   

Peony in Ikebana

I have four kinds of tree peony (different colors), they bloom earlier than a regular Peony. One of the flowers is so big that it is up to 9 inches in diameter. All are so strikingly beautiful! But it's a pity that they do not last long. I want to catch their beauty, so here are my three arrangements.

With painted twig, Philodendron, metal structure.

Peony with fig branch.

Peony with vine and Clematis.