Today on At Home with Flowers- I’m in garden creating a late Summer Ikebana Arrangement- featuring Flowers and Foliage from my Cutting Garden… and my Zinnia Grower – Craig. I’m making the arrangement in a Vintage Ikebana Container I found on ebay… it’s lovely- and typically you would create an arrangement in this container using a Kenzan (Japanese Needle Pak) – by affixing a small Kenzan inside the container with Florist Clay… This is the traditional method… However you could also use sticks and branches to create a Hana Kubari type arrangement- where you use these branches to form a structure to support your Flower and Foliage Stems.
Recently- I saw a Kenzan that is created in a Ring… it’s all the rage on Social Media- and it’s produced by the Hanataba Company- I’ve included a link here - https://hanataba.co/en-us/products/flower-frog-kenzan-ring-200-mm - and it’s on sale- for $30 off… That’s a great deal- and a wonderful gift for any flower arranger!
I immediately fell in love with the concept of a Kenzan that is created in a ring shape… the cool part about this concept is that you can create a larger ikebana arrangement or even a low centerpiece- with the ring… and it will use less flowers. Another benefit of the large ring- is that it’s much more stable… so you don’t necessary have to use florist clay… I like that because the clay can be messy!
This 200mm flower ring Kenzan- fits perfectly in this Vintage Ikebana container… almost like it was made for it! In this video I decided to create the arrangement setting on the table… while that is not something I would advocate – in the real world- because it’s important to get your flowers immediately into water after they are cut… but for this demonstration- it makes more sense- so you can see exactly how I am creating this ikebana style of arrangement.
This perimeter style of arranging… is exactly the same process I used with the Perimeter Arrangement I made with Gladiolus and Hydrangea- in J Schwanke’s Life in Bloom Episode #201 Arrangements from the Garden! Watch NOW!
Here’s the Original Fun with Flowers and J- episode- that has even more details https://watch.ubloom.com/videos/gladiolus-perimeter-urn - it’s got more helpful hints too…  Perimeter Style of arranging- is unique because the central vertical axis of the arrangement is concealed- (and can be void or empty)- and all the flowers surrounding that area- can be used to create focal emphasis- in the entire ring… (IE… You use more flowers- and the arrangement still looks full- it’s a great TIP- that is also in my Award winning book- Bloom 365 – You can buy it here – www.uBloom.com/Store 
I hope you enjoy this fun garden interlude with beautiful dahlia, zinnias, celosia and more this week on At Home with Flowers… remember the Video is always FREE- and you can watch it anytime- just visit the uBloom website- and click on the header for this week’s episode!