365 Days of Ikebana-Day 92

This is the arrangement I did in my Sogetsu Ikebana class tonight. I was given three stems of “hairy balls” (Asclepias physocarpa) and told to do the lesson “Using only one type of flower”. It can be a difficult lesson or easy lesson depending on what type of floral material you get. I thought that massing the balls would be the best use of them and kept one branch long so that I could use the stem. Two stems were cut short and inserted into the kenzan and I wove the balls form the tird into those. I used the branch to form a curved line extending out over the water into one of the corners of the suiban. This material in the milkweed family does have some white sap that flows from the stem and places where the leaves are removed, I simply let it weep litle and wipe it clean with a cloth. To hone your creativity this is a great lesson!