How is Ikebana Sustainable? | Part 2

This is a continuation of a three-part series:
How is Ikebana Sustainable? Read part one here.


So we left off in the dark, unassuming parking garage of the Denver Buddhist Temple at the Cherry Blossom Festival. There, under the harsh layers of concrete I discovered a humble ikebana display. Delicate floral arrangements in precarious positions. Asymmetrical. Balanced. Unbalanced. And with no. foam. anywhere.

Fast forward a month or so, and I am officially a student of ikebana under the watchful eye of my sensei. There I discover the wonderful world of kenzans, or “flower frogs,”though I’m horrified when I skip ahead in my textbook and find out that in the world of Sogetsu ikebana, kenzans are only to be used in containers that are 4” or less in height. This arrangement style is known as moribana.

Moribana: To “pile up flowers” by arranging them in a shallow container and by using a kenzan.

In contrast, nageire arrangements, or those that are “thrown” into a tall vase are secured into place with the cross-bar technique (or “Jumonji-dome” in Japanese). This is where I would include a photo of this wonderfully sustainable fixing method, but either Squarespace makes it tough to add photos or there is seemingly no way to do so with the template I chose… wonderful.

To recap, there are two sustainable methods to fix floral arrangements into place:

1) With the use of kenzans

2) Through fixing techniques like the cross-bar

Months later, my sensei allows me to start getting more experimental with non-conventional materials. That’s when I learn that the limit does not exist in ikebana floral design.

More later… follow me on Instagram for more ramblings and random thoughts.