Bob, the husband of our friend and ikebana student, Patti, dropped by the shop one day bearing gifts of branches. He said it was a kind of dogwood but it had fruits hanging on them!

It is called "yamaboushi" in Japanese. A little research told us it is called the Kousa dogwood. The fruit is actually edible and is supposed to be sweet when ripe...but I didn't take a bite! :-) I was quite thrilled to be able to use such an unusual branch for ikebana!

I chose a bamboo container for this arrangement. The delicately latticed bamboo basketwork brought an air of lightness to the space.

I arranged the fruit around the very thin branches...as if they were bursting right out of the container!

Here's a top view.

And just when you thought the arrangement is complete, I added a thicker branch with an opposite movement...just to surprise you with something unexpected! :-)

Here is the complete arrangement. I hope you like it. --Miyako

A very special thank you to Patti and Bob for always bringing interesting branches to me!