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Some Simple Advice about Flower Arranging

Having a flower garden helps to keep me supplied with lots of fresh flowers. We have lots of windows and some French doors in our home and it allows us the luxury of seeing flowers of all sorts from the early spring until late fall.

Yet there seems to be something special about bringing some of those flowers into our home. Even the simplest and smallest arrangement gives a little lan to the dining room table or the kitchen island. When we have overnight guests it is such a simple, but welcome gesture to put an arrangement at their bedside table.

During the winter, even a small $1.98 African violet can brighten any portion of our home. We love fresh flowers and candles on our dining room table. I discovered if one removes the leaves of the stems prior to putting them into the water in the vase, the flowers remain fresher for a longer time.

I have also discovered that even the smallest or most unusual vessel can make a grand container for a floral arrangement. Occasionally, I come across an attractive or favorite piece of china that has developed a crack. It no longer will hold liquid. I find that putting a smaller container into the non-functional piece and filling that container with water, will provide an excellent "vase" for an accompanying single rose or a sprig or two of some kind of flower. Sometimes I even just insert a small baggie into the vessel, with the lip hanging over the top. This allows me to safely store the water and then arrange my flowers. I hate to throw anything pretty or useful away.

Floral arrangements in our western part of the world have a tendency to big large, elaborate arrangements. However, I have learned a lot from Eastern culture and especially from the Japanese floral art called ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement, seeks to create a harmony of linear construction, rhythm, and color. While Westerners tend to emphasize the quantity and colors of the flowers, devoting their attention mainly to the beauty of the blossoms, the Japanese emphasize the linear aspects of the arrangement and have developed the art to include the vase, stems, leaves, and branches, as well as the flowers. The entire structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on three main lines that symbolize heaven, earth, and humankind.

The origins of ikebana can be traced back to ritual flower offerings in Buddhist temples, which began in the sixth century. In these rather crude arrangements, both the flowers and the

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