Ikebana, a relative of Kokedama I shared HERE, is the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging. The practice started as offerings in temples in the seventh century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China and Korea.
Ikebana is an art and science with various schools of design governed by rules imposed by various masters with the key classics being Rikka, Seika, and Moribana. In general, Ikebana focuses on uneven numbers, asymmetry, and minimalism. I find the arrangements very beautiful as I have never been a fan of big bunches of cut flowers which are depressing to watch die until you through them out. Ikebana emphasizes shape over quantity and often focuses on less traditional material such as stems and leaves with emphasis given to shape, line, and form.
The basic tools used in ikebana are a vase (often a low bowl), clippers, and a kenzan also known as a floral frog which allows the flowers and branches to be placed in specific upright and angled positions.
Most of the modern schools of ikebana arrangements branches or flowers of three basic lengths known as the shin, some, and tai. Generally, the shin is a branch, the soe is the larger thriller flower such as a dahlia, peony, or daffodil and the tai is a smaller filler type flower. Mastery of Ikebana can take years and I highly recommend the book Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers if you are interested in learning more or just want a beautiful coffee table book. This would also be a great Christmas gift for your plant lover friends and family!
Here are my first attempts at creating an ikebana arrangement. I purchased my bowl and kenzan from this ETSY shop which is one of the best places to look for unique and reasonably priced options. I foraged some flowers from the front yard for the second design. I am looking forward to further refining my skills and hope that you are also inspired to get involved in this activity!
Not too shabby for my first tries, right? I am looking forward to creating some different designs for holidays and am also planning to experiment with some faux plants and flowers to avoid the issue of watching real flowers slowly die. Here is a gallery of some other Ikebana arrangements that I think are very beautiful!