My Hobby

My Hobby (Female version)

  I like arranging flowers.  I arrange flowers once a week.  I arrange flowers in an Ikebana style, a traditional Japanese way of flower arrangement.   These days the Western style of flower arrangements is getting popular among young women.  Therefore, when we refer to the traditional Japanese flower arrangements, we call it "Ikebana," and when we refer to the Western style of flower arrangements, we tend to use the English as it is.  Now, when I talk about the Japanese style of flower arrangements, I will use the word Ikebana.

  The word "Ikebana" has been introduced into English vocabulary and listed in English dictionaries.  An English dictionary at my hand, Webster's New World Dictionary, defines Ikebana as follows.

 Ikebana = the Japanese art of arranging cut flowers in rhythmic, decorative designs.

 When I was a young girl, Ikebana was supposed to be one of the accomplishments that young girls should acquire before marriage.  Parents, especially mothers, encourage their daughters to learn Ikebana.

  Even today some mothers advise their daughters to learn Ikebana.  The so-called culture centers provide Ikebana classes to these young women.

 Civic centers of many municipalities also provide Ikebana classes together with other culture classes.

  When I was young, there was no such thing as a culture center or culture classes.  We attended private lessons given by certified Ikebana instructors.  These Ikebana instructors are mostly middle-aged women.

  Since Ikebana originated with tea ceremony, most of the Ikebana instructors also taught tea ceremony.  Oftentimes Buddhist nuns teach both Ikebana and tea ceremony.  Because both Ikebana and tea ceremony are closely related to Buddhism in their origins, it is only natural that Buddhist nuns are well versed in the art of Ikebana and also certified Ikebana instructors.  

  There are three leading schools of Ikebana in Japan.  They are the Ikenobo school, the Ohara School and the Sogetsu School.  Among these the Ikenobo School has the longest history, and the Sogetsu School is most modern.

  Tea ceremony was established by Sen no Rikyu.  After his death in 1591, his teachings were practiced by his disciples and handed down to the later generations.  Many different schools were established.  Among them, the Urasenke School is the most active and has the largest following.

  I started to learn Ikebana when I was a fifth grader with a Buddhist nun, who belonged to the Ikenobo School.  At the same time, I learned tea ceremony with her.  She practiced Ura Senke.

  When we learned Ikebana, we didn't have to buy the flowers ourselves.  The teacher had prepared them beforehand and we paid for them.  Then we practiced Ikebana with the prepared flowers with the guidance of the teacher.  When our arrangements satisfied the teacher, we disbanded our arrangements and brought the flowers back home.

  My house had a Japanese tatami room with an alcove.  As soon as I got back home, I arranged the flowers in a vase on the floor of the alcove, remembering how I had arranged them with the teacher.  

  

  I stopped learning Ikebana when I entered junior high school, because I was busy doing club activities every Sunday.  I belonged to the tennis club, and had to practice even on Sundays.

  I resumed my Ikebana learning when I entered college.  My former Ikebana teacher, who was a Buddhist nun, had moved somewhere.  That time I learned Ikebana with a widowed lady in the neighborhood.  She also belonged to Ikenobo School.  That time I didn't learn tea ceremony, because she didn't teach it.  

  

  For six years while I was attending junior and senior high schools, I was busy with school works and didn't have time to arrange flowers.  My mother arranged flowers to decorate the alcove once a week.  She was happy when I resumed Ikebana learning because she was freed from the duty of arranging flowers every week."

  When I got married to my husband, we lived in an apartment.  Since the apartment didn't have a tatami room, there is no alcove to put the arranged flowers in.  

  In most Japanese households, there is a shoe cupboard in the entrance hall.  There is one even in the entrance hall of the apartment.  I arranged flowers on the top of the shoe cupboard.

  Still I missed the alcove, the place most suited for Ikebana.  Therefore, when we decided to buy a house, we looked for a house that has at least one tatami room with an alcove.  Fortunately we could find a house that has an eight tatami mat room with a beautiful alcove.  I was very happy that I could decorate the alcove with my Ikebana.

  Now I am not attending any Ikebana lesson, but I arrange flowers at least once a week.  On the day I arrange flowers, I go to the flower shop to buy flowers.  It is sometimes difficult to find good flowers for my plan of Ikebana.  And flowers are rather expensive.    That's why I started to grow flowers.  And gardening became another of my favorite hobbies besides Ikebana.

  Since our house has a backyard, I decided to have a small flower garden to grow flowers I like for my Ikebana.  It was more than three years ago.

  Before I started to grow flowers, I hadn't known much about flowers.  Now I know lots about flowers.

  

  I plan my flower garden very carefully.  I always make a sketch of the garden and decide what kinds of flowers are to go where.  As you may know, there are roughly two kinds of flowers; an annual and a perennial.  

  I always start to design the garden with the perennials, because they last year after year.  I choose plants that are winter hardy and will give a good blend of color.  Many improved strains that bloom even in cold weather during the wintertime are available now because of improvements in plant breeding.

  

  Some of the flowers bloom early and some bloom late but the foliage usually lasts all season, so I have to think about the color and texture of the leaves.

  I allow each plant enough space to flourish.  I consider height as well as width, putting taller plants in the back or center.  

  I have to prepare stakes for supporting tall-growing, top-heavy plants such as sweet peas or chrysanthemums.  

  Next I plan bulbous plants.  My favorites are tulips, daffodils, gladioli, and dahlias.  Most of these bear showy blossoms that last only a short while.  They look best in groups.  So I plant plenty of them in a group in one place.  

  There is a garden planted with trees and shrubs in front of my house.  Most of them are flowering kinds, such as cherry trees, plum trees, camellia, daphne, and azalea.  They blossom in their respective seasons.  There are two kinds of camellia.  One bears red flowers and the other white flowers. Both of them are heavy with flowers in the wintertime.  In early spring the cherry tree is in full bloom.  Then the daphne trees start to blossom and the garden is filled with the fragrant scents from the daphne flowers.

  I often ask my husband to accompany me to the nearby garden center where I buy flower seedlings, fertilizer, and various gardening equipment.  Since I buy so many of them, I need a carrier for them.   When I want to buy many seedlings or seeds of the same kind, I go to the nursery in the next town.  The nursery usually sells only in large quantities and does not retail its products.  Since the wife of the owner of the nursery is my classmate in my high school days, I am privileged to buy as many seedlings or other products as I'd like to at the wholesale prices, which are much lower than the retail prices at the garden center.  

  In that nursery, they cultivate various beautiful orchids.  Orchids are tropical plants.  They need to be kept in a greenhouse.  In wintertime a heating system is also needed.  It is my future plan to have a small greenhouse and cultivate orchids.  

  Growing flowers requires lots of work.  All year round, I get up early in the morning to water the flowers and also weed the garden.  It is a tough work, but it is rewarding.  To arrange flowers fresh from my flower garden gives me great pleasure.