It is in the 90's and sweltering. This arrangement I made for the Eagle Warehouse lobby reflects the hot and crazy concrete jungle that is our city this Memorial Weekend.
Ginger flowers, Cana leaves, dried palm seed pods (a gift from my sister Shirley's real jungle garden on the Big Island of Hawaii), and wild vines foraged from a parking lot here in Brooklyn. I think it's kind of savagely beautiful, don't you?

Frienship Through Flowers

"anybody can do ikebana anytime, anywhere, with anything"---Sofu Teshigahara, Founder of Sogetsu

It was in this spirit that fellow Ikebana International Board members and I spent the day in Bedford-Stuyvesant yesterday to teach 30 boys and girls how to arrange flowers. I must admit I was a bit intimidated at first, what with all the negative press associated with Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood. Actually, the kids were a joy to work with. They were well behaved, respectful of us and the flowers, and very enthusiastic---even the boys. Arent' they cute, looking so proud of their creations? I was proud too, to be living up to our organization's motto: "Friendship through Flowers".

Cherry blossoms, your season is not over---
Do your petals start to fall
Because the love of your admirers is now at its height? ---anonymous


This past weekend was the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Can you believe there was not a single cherry blossom left on any of their trees? Thanks to the freaky 90-degree weather of early spring! So, I bought cherry blossom branches that had been refridgerated and forced them open for use in our annual exhibit there. Itching to do something a bit creative, I used a clear vase and dropped some food coloring into the water. I thought the aqua-colored water made for a refreshing contrast to all the pinkness and rendered a unique twist to an otherwise totally traditional arrangement.