Flowers by the roadside
Ikebana can be made using any type of plants. I often think how noble this thought is. It erases the difference between the expensive, exotic flowers of strong colors that we buy in flower shops and the modest lily of the valley that grows at the edge of the forest. And each flower can tell you its own story, if you let it.
This summer, I paid special attention to the plants that grow in my immediate environment. We often pass by these flowers and do not realize how much beauty there is in them. Most of these plants are also medicinal plants. Take a look at, say, this arrangement:
Here you can see common yarrow, white sweet clover, common tansy, sneeze wort and grass. This arrangement is soothing, fragrant and healing. I enjoyed it for a very long time, because all these plants last a long time in a vase.
A wavy sea of light purple and pink
Another example of a plant that we often just pass by and do not recognize its beauty is heather. For me, heather is as precious as Nordic lavender. Heather turns Norwegian mountains into a wavy sea of light purple and pink in August. I dedicated these three arrangements to that beauty. Taken out of its context, heather becomes an indication of wind movement in nature. I love heather!
Flowers by the roadside 
Dancing flower buttons
The next plant that grows along the road is common tansy. The yellow buttons of the flowers remind me of mimosas. They are ideal for making mass in arrangements in which the mass is contrasted with the line, as in the arrangement below. Another contrast we see in this arrangement is the contrast between yellow and blue colors.
Yellow is the sun’s reflection
Yellow is the inspiration and focus in the arrangements you see below, as well. The arrangements are made in delicate, ceramic pots that emphasize the delicacy of the plants. And here we have an example of a medicinal plant, St. John’s wort, as the main character of the arrangement on the right.
If you want to find out more about ikebana, you can by pdf version of my book “Ikebana – the way of flowers” here.