ikebanaofrichmond.org

“Friendship through Flowers”
Come browse our forum or look at the photographs

Let me know what you think…

By the way, in case anyone thinks that’s not a witchhazel (mansaku), they’re right. Mansaku is Japanese witchhazel, Hamamelis japonica, but I believe this is Disanthus cercidifolius (maruba-no-ki or beni-mansaku). It’s a lovely and unusual shrub in Western gardens, related to the witchhazels (same family, different genus). Apart from the very different leaf-shape it has maroon flowers with 5 petals in late autumn, rather than the 4-petalled yellow to orange early-spring flowers of Japanese and Chinese witchhazels.

Having seen (seldom enjoyed!) a lot of competitive flower-arrangement exhibitions in the UK, e.g. at Chelsea Flower Show, I have to say that this ikebana exhibition blows them out of the water for style and presentation: wonderful! Thanks for another fascinating post.