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Gardeners Out East Garden Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida
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Ikebana*

Ikebana is a tradition that goes back centuries; and its design principles are governed by specific rules and techniques. However, art, creativity and self-expression are part of the process. As a meditative art, "your inner self comes out in the arrangement."

Most arrangements have just a few flowers, and always an uneven number of them. Think minimalist and asymmetrical and yet still harmonious and balanced.

Ikebana originated in the Buddhist practice of offering flowers at temple altars. The proportions that govern traditional ikebana designs are still described in terms of religious symbolism. The tallest branch represents heaven; a second stem (2/3 of the height of the tallest) represents man and a final component, (1/3 smaller than the second stem) symbolizes earth.

Many arrangements are created in a ceramic bowl or dish with a kenzan: a small, round, spiked block into which stems and branches are inserted to keep them upright; to be covered with water once the arrangement is complete.

For more information go to: www.ikebanahq.org


*Information gleaned from an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, August 19, 2016
Gardeners Out East is a 501(c)(3) organization and a member of
​the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.
​and the National Garden Clubs, Inc.