Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz March 14th, 2008

There are flower arrangements and then there are flower arrangements.

Personally, I detest the overly-colorful and tightly packed arrangements that I associate with almost anything you can order through FTD. I have finally trained my husband to get a bunch of fresh flowers from the florist–or even the grocer–that I can arrange at home in my own lovely containers. But Ikebana is another matter altogether. Take a look at these displays from the Philadelphia Flower Show and tell me what you think. They are competitive examples of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging.

You won’t find abundant and exuberant displays of bountiful blossoms. This is all about line and form. Restraint even, from what I can tell. And the container is as important as the arrangements, which often rely on twigs or other materials to make a line to draw the eye and create the form. Frankly, I find the arrangements artful and, well, refreshing.

Those exceptionally sophisticated and informed folks up in Philadelphia even have a local chapter of Ikebana International. I saw some of the participants spending about 45 minutes on their arrangements, which had already been judged, trying to improve them, gently twisting a twig here, adjusting a flower height there. This is flower arranging for the exceptionally patient.

I spent a good deal of time examining these arrangements before heading off to the vendor section to pick up a couple of “vessels” for my garden flowers. I adore the fact that you don’t have to have dozens and dozens of blossoms to make a beautiful arrangement and that you can use other materials–even dead stuff–to an artistic end. Right now, I have a good deal of dead-looking stuff to use in arrangements. While I doubt that I’ll ever spend more than 10 minutes on an arrangement of flowers, I do believe I have picked up a trick or two from the Ikebana aficionados.

With that said, here’s a little Ikebana walking tour from the Philadelphia Flower Show for you…

I’m fascinated. What do you think? Is Ikebana for you?

Posted In: Flower Arranging

Tags: Philadelphia Flower Show

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Bzzzz March 10th, 2008

I just returned from the Philadelphia Flower Show. Holy moly.

Let me tell you, this is no ordinary home and garden show. Nay, nay. This is a spectacle! It costs the fine folks of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society about $6.5 million to put on the show, although the estimated total expenditure by the show as well as the participants is three times that. The show covers a total of 10 acres in three areas: major exhibitions, competitive classes and horticultural schools and universities. There is also a large vendor area where you can shop till you drop.

Profits from the show go to benefit the Philadelphia Green program, which cleans up and beautifies outdoor spaces that have been derelict and unsightly. The program also sponsors a prisoner gardening program to raise vegetables for the homeless, neighborhood and community gardens and loads of education programs. Many cities could look to this program as a model of excellence with many side benefits.

This year’s theme was all about New Orleans and Jazz. The entrance was a recreation of the famed Bourbon Street, all decked out in flowers.

The competitions are in areas for landscaping, floral design, florists, by-invitation and by individual plant species. Many local high schools and colleges participate in the program, as do some prisoner groups.

In addition to the huge displays, there are also fabulous displays of smaller competitive areas: window boxes, container gardens, Ikebana, competitive impromptu arranging, stoop gardens, table settings…the list goes on and on. One of the most amazing areas was the miniatures–tiny little dioramas of natural and indoor scenes with real, live, miniature plants.

The Philadelphia Flower Show claims to be the biggest and best in the U.S. and is distinguished from the famed Chelsea Flower Show in London because the Philadelphia show is indoors. Chelsea is outdoors. That means that all the flowers, flowering shrubs, flowering trees–everything–had to be forced indoors. If you have ever tried to force a flower, imagine trying to force thousands, if not millions, of them. All at the same time. All on a particular day. And then arranging them in a small exhibition space to please the judges and the crowds.

And that, my friends, is why they call it a “show.”

(By the way, I arrived home just in time to unpack and pack again…off to Atlanta this time. I have about 1,000 photos to wade through, but will be posting them as soon as I return and recover. I also want to show you all the cool new stuff that I bought!)

Posted In: Flowers, Gardening, Travel

Tags: Philadelphi

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Beautiful Restraint – Ikebana

Report from the Philadelphia Flower Show