Sunflower and Olive Field (Turkey Trip) - 1

I am back from Turkey after two week long trip, from 9/8 to 9/20/2014. We traveled from Istanbul along the Aegean and Mediterranean sea coast and the western half of Anatolia. Turkey is a country full of history, wonderful and beautiful countryside (it's very safe). So much to see and so much to learn. The whole area is rich in culture, with four thousand years of Greek-Roman-Islamic histories and ruins and strange rock formations with caves (Cappadocia), where early Christians hid from persecution.You see magnificent mosques with minarets everywhere. I am not going to write all that, it's beyond my ability but I want to post something related to my blog's subject and beyond.
Pictures were taken from the tour bus window, they are not very clear. 

On the way to Troy (ancient city of the Trojan horse), you can see the Aegean sea,
sunflower and olive field. 

From Istanbul headed south through Thrace and Gallipoli Peninsula on bus tour along
the Sea of Marmara, there are miles of drying Sun flower fields ready to be harvested for
Sunflower oil ( better for frying food) and seeds.

The northern Aegean section ( along the Aegean Sea) is the location for Turkey's olive
 oil production. Edremit, called the city of olive oil. Miles of olive trees with green olives, November is the time to be harvested. Turkey is one of the five olive production countries, other are Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. 

I love fresh figs. They are big and delicious, but can't stay fresh
for long, so they dry them. You can buy them any time and any
where around the Mediterranean countries. 

Ikebana International 50th Anniversary Celebration ( Philadelphia Chapter 71 )

Even though I just came back from our Turkey vacation trip, that same night (9/20/2014), I still attended the Ikebana International 50th anniversary celebration dinner gala, held in the beautiful Long Wood Garden. Because, I simply didn't want to miss this event. To see all the beautiful flowers, meet old and new friends and view all gorgeous Ikebana arrangements displayed specially for this occasion. I was dead tired but excited for an evening of Friends, Flowers and Fantasy!
Here are some pictures: All kinds of Dahlias and the first round of displays for the Sogetsu, Ikenobo, Ohara schools of Ikebana.

September BCOS Meeting

Buck County Orchid Society (BCOS) resumed its activity in September after two months off. I will miss the September meeting (3rd Thursday) due to my vacation trip to Turkey for two weeks. So I checked my outside orchids' site the other days, it's surprised me that I found my orchids have seven spikes in six plants which might bloom during my absence. When I am not around, I am a little worried about what's going to happen to those orchid plants. I wish they will bloom beautifully to welcome me home. See you in two weeks!

Preparing for Fall Exhibition - (2)

Materials are Azalea, Zinnia, mum and fan in the sided open mouth container. Two different Azalea branches were used. I trimmed a lot of Azalea leaves to show the line hanging down. This is for the exhibition (top picture). The picture at the bottom is the trial version.

Preparing for Fall Exhibition- (1)

The annual Ikebana Flower Arrangement and Fall Harvest Exhibition will be held at Grace Taiwanese Presbyterian Church on the first weekend of September. Every member of our Ikebana class is preparing for the event. This is a great opportunity for members to practice and show their skill and improvement.
1) Vine, Driftwood, Cockscomb, mum and Butterfly maple in ceramic suipan (shallow container).
2) Same materials, changed flowers to mum and clover, less maple, showing more water and wood.
3) Final piece for exhibition, same materials again, changed flower to Hydrangea.

Contemporary Arrangement - Using Philodendron Leaf

Material: Philodendron leaf (I cut it in half), Toad Lily seed pod, road side plant seed pod and yellow flowers (Arranged by following the line of the leaf).
Container: Ceramic vase.

An Arrangement with Dyer's Grape

The summer is almost over, and my grandchildren will go to school soon after Labor Day. The breezy wind feels like Fall is in the air! The road side weeds, like the dyer's grape, is turning into a pretty color purple and bearing fruit. Surprisingly, it's a very tough plant and can stay fresh for quite some time after you pick them--a good material for Ikebana. I tried to use it with the same color toned Zinnia that I picked from the garden. Here is my arrangement.

Color, Mass and Texture

I like to use seasonal materials and am always looking for things from my garden and the surroundings. Now, the perennial flowers have faded away, toad lilies have turned into the seed pods, which is a nice Ikebana material. My design here is for showing the Color, Mass and Texture, using red Zinnia, Phlox and green seed pod with two gold metal pieces in the black vase.

August Orchid Bloom

I checked all my orchids collection at outside under the trees and inside the house, I could't find any spike or any sign of flowering for next month. But some time they will surprise me, like the first picture. I found it already has two buds then I brought home and waiting for its blooming.
For this month, I have four kind of different orchids are in full blooming now. See below:

Cattleya Alliance.  Purple "Star bright"

Another Oncidium. Sharry Baby, chocolate fragrance

Phalaenopsis.  Bright, indirect light is required,   

Onc. Spacelatium, a small plant

A Cluster of Small Vases

Each small vase is 4" tall, five vases connected together as a 13" long container. It's cute and interesting (the water flows inside through all the vases). Using this kind of container to arrange is a bit challenging and fun. I looked around in my garden, only the Coral bell flower was long enough for horizontal style. I added its leaves, picked some Daisies, Phlox and Toad lily seed pods to complete my composition.
I think a crochet for the base is better than the wood. Do you agree?