SPRING VINE

We had some warm days last week that felt like the promise of summer. One morning when I walked out of the house along the garden path I noticed this large basalt rock had been dislodged.


       

Later that day as I drove the car out into the street I saw an echidna walking nonchalantly along the footpath, looking for ant nests to raid.


When I returned home and walked around the garden I found further evidence of echidna activity, including these holes dug in the mulch. Apparently it could sense the ant nest beneath the basalt rock. This was the first appearance of an echidna following the winter hibernation period.



This photo of an echidna under a rosebush was actually taken last year. With the typical variability of Spring-time, the weather has now turned somewhat cooler again and the echidna has not been evident since.


In the meantime the progression of the season is apparent. This week the pandorea pandorana vine growing on the fence is in full bloom. In the past we deliberately chose to use mesh fencing at the back of the property so that we could more easily grow vines and see the trees beyond the fence. The profusions of flowers shows nature in its abundant mood.



Here is a close up of a cluster of the bell shaped flowers. I thought they would make a good ikebana subject for my class in Torquay.


I set the students the task of making an ikebana arrangement using vine . The photo above is of my class demonstration using two large lengths of dried honeysuckle vine, Lonicera, and pandorea flowers. I have deliberately placed the flowers on one side to enhance the asymmetry of the ikebana. The vine, which envelops the space within the arrangement, comes a long way forward, which is not so apparent because of the foreshortening in the photo.

Greetings from Christopher
1st October 2017



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