He is so adorable

What does the Ikebana have to do with this cute little boy. Are they related?
Oh, yes! These Ikebana materials were collected from his home during my stay in my daughter's house taking care of him for a week, while his parents and sister (3 years old) went to Disney World for a meeting and vacation. So we, the grandparents and grandson, had so much fun and quality time together. He is such a cute one year old boy. I am posting this picture proudly to share with you.

A piece of wood panel, front and back. (9"5x13"5 )
Hurricane Irene damaged a big hollow tree on my daughter's neighbor's front yard. I asked the worker who was cutting the tree for this interesting piece of wood, thinking that I can use it for Ikebana. Below is my arrangement. The beautiful Azalea branches were from my daughter's garden. You can turn the lazy Susan base to view it all around.

Orchids in October

Miltassia" Spider orchid" name unknown. Vigorous and easy to flower. (9 flowers in total)

It's mid October now, and the weather is getting colder. It's time to bring all my "vacation site" orchids back into the house. Before I do, I have to check and clean each one of them. I was surprised to find that many orchids have been in spike or in sheath already.

Onc. papilio Mendenhall " Hildos"
I posted this orchid in August. After I enjoyed its beauty for about a month, it faded and fell off, but another bud started to form, and it's in full bloom now. I wonder how many flowers will bloom in this stem?

Four Different Styles of Arrangement

We didn't have any class all of September. It happened that I had these beautiful flowers, so I felt the urge to do some arrangements using them. Here are the four different styles.

Naked weeping pine branches (I stripped all the pine needles), St. John's-wort and roses.

Trimmed azalea branch and sunflowers

Willow, pine, and chrysanthemums

Abstract design- rose( in tube) and broken leave

"Summer Laborers" Abstract Design incorporating garden tools

This is our MWGC member Jeremy's design which I liked the most. The meeting was held 9/28/2011. I didn't like my arrangement so I redesigned it at home (below). I don't know if it's abstract or not?

My Back Yard--Deer and Wild Turkeys

The mother deer and three fawns are always running around my back yard looking for food. Now, the mother's gone, and the three young deer are on their own.

The mother turkey and nine young chicks have been coming "home" every evening. They flew into the tree tops one by one and rest there through the night. It's fun to watch the action.

Orchids in September

Onc. Sharry Baby ' Sweet fragrance' - chocolate scent. I have a couple of these plants. They're easy to grow and bloom couple times a year.


Blc. Richard Mueller x B. Cordata, "Lady of the night"
Fragrant at night. It blooms during this time of year faithfully. Their flowers change color from a little pink to yellow after a few days and last more than a month.

Free Style using Leftover Materials

Materials: Ceriman, Philodendron selloum, Carnation, vine
I think this long bamboo basket suits this big Ceriman leaf (20"x17"). The tied vine around it makes it look balanced and in harmony.

Mini Exhibition at Grace Taiwanese Church

Abstract Design. Color contract and very striking!

Left is Bamboo design. Right is all Green Toned arrangement.
Above are my teacher's demo. arrangements.
Below are mine. I only posted some of my teacher's demo pieces and parts of my flower arrangements at this exhibition. You might like to see the other flower arrangements in this show at http://flowersikebanaandI.blogspot.com.

These two pictures were similar ideas that I designed in my previous arrangement.

Left: Line, Mass and Surface are the three elements of this arrangement.
Right: Carnations, chive flowers and honey suckle vine.( 9/10~9/11/2011)

Just for Fun

Self made vine container #3.

All dried materials except the fern leaves.

Hanging and Contemporary Arrangement

Materials: Honey sucker, Rose of Sharon.
Container: bamboo( made in Taiwan).

I used the same dried branches and Coral bell leaf for both arrangements, the only difference was the flowers (Gaillardia and Dahlia). I think both arrangements have the same contemporary look.