During the hot summer months the Spanish countryside is filled with fields of sunflowers. Last week we explored some of the small villages surrounding Madrid and were inspired to create an arrangement using sunflowers.
My youngest daughter decided to use an iron vase that she and her sister won last year. The vase represents the number 60 to celebrate Iemoto Akane Teshigahara’s Kanreki (sixtieth birthday).
To fix the flower and leaf in the vase I showed my daughter how to create a Jumonji-dome (cross-bar fixture).
Inspired by a recent zoom workshop by Antoinette De Roo for Belgium’s Azalea Study Group she cut and rolled an Aspidistra leaf. Aspidistra is my favourite ikebana material as it can be used in such a variety of ways, is long lasting, and grows easily in Madrid’s extreme climate.
My daughter cut the stem of the leaf on an angle so that it would sit correctly against the side of the vase.
After placing the leaf in the vase she chose a sunflower. Before placing it in the vase she removed some of the leaves, cut the stem on an angle in water and dipped the cut end into salt.
Removing some of the leaves and salting the cut stem of sunflowers enables them to last longer, especially during the sweltering heat of summer in Spain.
