Last weekend we decided to escape the hustle and grind of the city and head to the mountains. The crisp, cool air made it perfect for long slow hikes and foraging for ikebana material. While hiking, we collected a variety of leaves and seed pods. On the ground, we discovered interesting shaped ‘seed pods’ that we hadn’t seen before. Each ‘seed pod’ had a small hole, as though it was made by a small bird or insect.
After further investigation, we discovered that our ‘seed pods’ were oak apples, created by Gall Wasps. The small holes in the oak apples indicated that the wasps had matured and left and, fortunately for us, we were left with beautifully formed (and foraged) miniature ikebana vases.
Once home, we decided to create an ikebana arrangement in our new foraged ‘vases’. My daughters chose a tray for their arrangements and selected a variety of materials; some that we had collected in the mountains, combined with a few sprigs of flowers from the markets.
They placed their vases on the trays and arranged their material, being conscious of the negative space between the ‘vases’.
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